A LEAP 1B engine on another 737.
Image: Thyrome, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is urging aircraft operators to inform the crews of aircraft with CFM International LEAP-1B engines of the possibility that smoke might enter the cockpit or cabin after the activation of the engine load reduction device (LRD). The device is designed to limit the severity of vibrations that can be transmitted from a damaged airframe to an engine.
The NTSB issued the urgent safety recommendation to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on June 18, warning that the severe vibrations can damage the engine oil system, which, in turn, can lead to smoke from the hot oil entering the airplane’s ventilation system and the cockpit or passenger cabin.
Other recommendations called on the FAA to determine whether the same issue could occur in airplanes with LEAP-1A and LEAP-1C engines.
LEAP engines are use…
