ABU DHABI 25 February 2021: The UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) said it is closely working with the US Federal Aviation Administration and monitoring the current situation for any updates on the Boeing 777 aircraft fitted with engine PW4000.
This follows an incident where a United Airlines 777-200 aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing at Denver International Airport after suffering engine failure over Denver, US, last Saturday.
Minutes after the flight took off from Denver headed for Honololu, it had to turn back after one of it’s engine caught fire. Parts of the engine landed on the ground, but all passengers and crew were safe.
In a statement on Wednesday, the GCAA said, “Currently the UAE does not have any UAE registered aircraft operating with PW4000 engines. And, there are no foreign aircraft fitted with the mentioned engine operating to UAE airports and airspace.”
Emirates airline has one of the world’s largest Boeing 777 fleet with 150 planes, while Etihad Airways operates 19 Boeing 777 aircraft. However, these are mostly B777-300 and, according to GCAA, do not have PW4000 engines.
“In view of the actions taken by both state of design and state of registries are deemed adequate and there are no need of any additional measures to be taken from the UAE at this stage. We are continually monitoring the situation and if there are any further developments and intervention is required it will be taken,” it added.
[Video uploaded on YouTube by JustFly]
Many airlines around the world have imposed a ban on operating Boeing 777s fitted with Pratt & Whitney PW4000-112 engines after the engine incident. There were no reported injuries but debris from the plane’s Pratt & Whitney engine was found under its flight path.
