WASHINGTON: The National Transportation Safety Board issued an urgent safety recommendation Wednesday to address the possibility of smoke entering the cockpit or cabin of Boeing 737 MAX airplanes equipped with CFM International LEAP-1B engines.
The NTSB also recommended evaluating the potential for the same issue with LEAP-1A and LEAP-1C engines, which are used on some Airbus A320neo variants and COMAC’s Chinese-made C919 jets.
The recommendation comes after two incidents involving Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 MAX jets that experienced bird strikes in 2023. The NTSB wants the Federal Aviation Administration to ensure that operators inform flight crews of airplanes equipped with the affected engines.
Southwest said it is reviewing the recommendations and that it has mitigation procedures currently in place. Southwest notified its flight crews about the effects of certain bird strikes following two events that occurred in 2023, reiterating the importance of following established safety procedures.
CFM, the world’s largest engine maker by units sold, is co-owned by GE Aerospace and Safran.
The NTSB said it was “critical to ensure that pilots who fly airplanes equipped with CFM International LEAP-1B engines are fully aware of the potential for smoke in the cockpit if the load reduction device is activated during a critical phase of flight (takeoff or landing).”
The FAA and Boeing both said they agreed with the NTSB recommendations, and the planemaker alerted operators that smoke could enter the flight deck following the activation of the Load Reduction Device (LRD) in the engines, as a result of a bird strike.
“We advised operators to evaluate their procedures and crew training to ensure they address this potential issue,” the FAA said. “When the engine manufacturer develops a permanent mitigation, we will require operators to implement it within an appropriate timeframe.”
Boeing said that CFM and Boeing “have been working on a software design update.” The NTSB wants the update to be required on all 737 MAX planes once completed.
GE, Airbus and COMAC did not immediately respond to requests for comment
The NTSB asked the European Union Aviation Safety Agency and the Civil Aviation Administration of China to determine if other variants of the CFM LEAP engine are also susceptible to smoke in the cabin or cockpit when an LRD activates. EASA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In November, the FAA said it would not require immediate action after convening a review board to consider concerns about Boeing 737 MAX engines after two bird strike incidents involving the CFM LEAP-1B.
The FAA had been considering recommendations for new takeoff procedures to close the airflow to one or both engines to address the potential impact of a bird strike and prevent smoke from entering the cockpit.
In 2024, the NTSB opened an investigation into the Southwest left engine bird strike and subsequent smoke in cockpit event that occurred near New Orleans in December 2023.
The other incident occurred in a Southwest March 2023 flight that had departed Havana and in which a bird strike led to smoke filling the passenger cabin.
In February 2024, Boeing published a bulletin to inform flight crews of potential flight deck and cabin effects associated with severe engine damage.
US safety board wants warnings on Boeing 737 MAX engines over smoke entering cockpit
https://arab.news/8bs5g
US safety board wants warnings on Boeing 737 MAX engines over smoke entering cockpit
- The NTSB wants the Federal Aviation Administration to ensure that operators inform flight crews of airplanes equipped with the affected engines
Bangladesh halts controversial relocation of Rohingya refugees to remote island
- Administration of ousted PM Sheikh Hasina spent about $350m on the project
- Rohingya refuse to move to island and 10,000 have fled, top refugee official says
DHAKA: When Bangladesh launched a multi-million-dollar project to relocate Rohingya refugees to a remote island, it promised a better life. Five years on, the controversial plan has stalled, as authorities find it is unsustainable and refugees flee back to overcrowded mainland camps.
The Bhasan Char island emerged naturally from river sediments some 20 years ago. It lies in the Bay of Bengal, over 60 km from Bangladesh’s mainland.
Never inhabited, the 40 sq. km area was developed to accommodate 100,000 Rohingya refugees from the cramped camps of the coastal Cox’s Bazar district.
Relocation to the island started in early December 2020, despite protests from the UN and humanitarian organizations, which warned that it was vulnerable to cyclones and flooding, and that its isolation restricted access to emergency services.
Over 1,600 people were then moved to Bhasan Char by the Bangladesh Navy, followed by another 1,800 the same month. During 25 such transfers, more than 38,000 refugees were resettled on the island by October 2024.
The relocation project was spearheaded by the government of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted last year. The new administration has since suspended it indefinitely.
“The Bangladesh government will not conduct any further relocation of the Rohingya to Bhasan Char island. The main reason is that the country’s present government considers the project not viable,” Mizanur Rahman, refugee relief and repatriation commissioner in Cox’s Bazar, told Arab News on Sunday.
The government’s decision was prompted by data from UN agencies, which showed that operations on Bhasan Char involved 30 percent higher costs compared with the mainland camps in Cox’s Bazar, Rahman said.
“On the other hand, the Rohingya are not voluntarily coming forward for relocation to the island. Many of those previously relocated have fled ... Around 29,000 are currently living on the island, while about 10,000 have returned to Cox’s Bazar on their own.”
A mostly Muslim ethnic minority, the Rohingya have lived for centuries in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state but were stripped of their citizenship in the 1980s and have faced systemic persecution ever since.
In 2017 alone, some 750,000 of them crossed to neighboring Bangladesh, fleeing a deadly crackdown by Myanmar’s military. Today, about 1.3 million of them shelter in 33 camps in the coastal Cox’s Bazar district, making it the world’s largest refugee settlement.
Bhasan Char, where the Bangladeshi government spent an estimated $350 million to construct concrete residential buildings, cyclone shelters, roads, freshwater systems, and other infrastructure, offered better living conditions than the squalid camps.
But there was no regular transport service to the island, its inhabitants were not allowed to travel freely, and livelihood opportunities were few and dependent on aid coming from the mainland.
Rahman said: “Considering all aspects, we can say that Rohingya relocation to Bhasan Char is currently halted. Following the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s regime, only one batch of Rohingya was relocated to the island.
“The relocation was conducted with government funding, but the government is no longer allowing any funds for this purpose.”
“The Bangladeshi government has spent around $350 million on it from its own funds ... It seems the project has not turned out to be successful.”
