Lufthansa has reportedly been suffering from a rash of Airbus A320neo engine vibration issues. The issue centers around aircraft using the Pratt & Whitney PW1100G geared turbofan engine, and involves ever increasing engine vibration on aircraft with as few as 1,000 flight hours, or less.
The vibrations increase in intense over time, and result in the engines having to be changed out. Pilots are alerted to the situation via an engine vibration warning in the cockpit, and the issue occurs when running at higher power during take-off and climb. The vibrations reportedly subside as the engine power settings are reduced while at cruise altitude.
The FAA is planning to release a publication on September 7 detailing manufacturing defects in some of the PW1100G-JM low-pressure turbine disks. The report specifies that several first and third stage LPT disks were delivered before the lot ended up being rejected due to material inclusion. Some of the disks may have been installed in engines that were delivered without being discovered during inspections.
