FAA Issues AD on GE CF34

Investigation into the recent Mesa Airlines uncontained fan disk failure over Colorado, the Federal Aviation Administration found etching in parts manufacturer was to blame and issued an emergency airworthiness directive for the engine. The AD covers the General Electric CF34-3A1/-3B/-3B1 turbofan engines. It also covers the CL-600-2B16 (CL-601-3R Variant), CL-600-2B16 (CL-604 Variant), and CL-600-2B19 (Regional Jet Series 100 and 440) model airplanes. An inspection of the Mesa engine as well as the recovered segments of the fan disk, found an electrical arc-out defect at the fracture origin site caused by a fault in the electro-chemical etch marking. If the procedure is performed incorrectly, an arc-out defect can occur. 2007-04-51 General Electric Aircraft Engines: Docket No. 2007-NE-06-AD. Emergency AD 2007-04-51, issued on February 15, 2007, is effective upon receipt.