Service difficulty report · Carbon Seal · Boeing 777222

Difficulty date
December 15, 2007
Submitted
December 18, 2007
Operation
Air carrier
Aircraft
N220UA
Make and model
Boeing 777222
Aircraft serial
30223
Aircraft time
26,287 hours, 3,461 cycles
Engine
Pwa PW4090
Engine time
39,502 hours, 5,814 cycles
Part
Carbon Seal
Condition
Leaking
Location
Engine
Component
Bearing
Component part number
50A096
Stage of operation
AP
How discovered
O
Nature of condition
K, B
Precautionary procedure
A

As reported to the FAA. Reports are unverified, and codes are left as the FAA publishes them.

What was found

LANDED UNDER EMERGENCY CONDITIONS DUE TO REPORTED SMOKE IN THE CABIN. SLIDE RAFTS DEPLOYED AND AIRCRAFT EVACUATED ONCE CLEAR OF ACTIVE. NR 2 ENGINE REPLACED AT ORD DUE TO HEAVY METAL DEPOSITS ON MAGNETIC CHIP DETECTORS. TEARDOWN REVEALED A FAILURE OF NR 2 BEARING. BEARING FAILURE CAUSED LARGE CHIPS OF CARBON TO BE LIBERATED FROM NR 2 FRONT CARBON SEAL, ALLOWING OIL TO LEAK INTO THE HP COMPRESSOR. THIS WAS THE SOURCE OF THE CABIN SMOKE.