Watch a turbine blade disk crack over 6 months of inspections

I was checking the HPT stage 1 disk on a CFM56-7B at our hangar in Miami. Month 3 I saw a tiny hairline starting near the cooling hole. By month 6 it was a visible 2-inch crack. Nobody else caught it. Anyone else ever track a defect like that over time?

2 comments

2 Comments

alice_kim1mo ago

Wait, wouldn't catching it early just mean more unnecessary paperwork and downtime for nothing?

kai91429d ago

Think about how everything works like that now. You fix a small crack in your sidewalk, and suddenly the city makes you rip out the whole slab because it doesn't match the new standard. Same with cars - my buddy's check engine light came on for a loose gas cap, but the shop still ran a full diagnostic and charged him for two hours of labor. Early detection just means you catch the problem early enough for them to find a bigger problem to bill you for.