CRJ9, Entebbe Uganda, 2018

CRJ9, Entebbe Uganda, 2018

Summary

On 4 February 2018, a Bombardier CRJ900 which had just arrived at Kigali after a flight from Entebbe was found to have identical damage to all left engine fan blade trailing edges and a small bolt was subsequently found trapped in the intake acoustic lining. The Investigation concluded that the recovered bolt had probably been picked up by the outboard left main gear tyre at slow speed and then ejected into the engine as wheel speed increased during takeoff thus causing the observed damage. FOD mitigation measures at Entebbe, where a major airside construction project was in progress, were faulted.

Description

On 4 February 2018, a GE CF34-8C5 powered Bombardier CRJ900 (9XR-WH) being operated by RwandAir on a scheduled international passenger flight from Nairobi to Kigali via Entebbe as WB465 completed an apparently normal flight in daylight VMC. However, a routine external inspection after engine shutdown at Kigali found that all 28 fan blades on the left-hand engine were similarly damaged at the outermost parts of their trailing edges. The aircraft was withdrawn from service for an engine and nacelle change.

Some of the damaged left-hand engine fan blades. [Reproduced from the Official Report]

Investigation

A Serious Incident Investigation was carried out by the Aviation Accident Investigation Division (AAID) of the Rwanda Ministry of Infrastructure in accordance with the principles of ICAO Annex 13.

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