France urges parts review after Airbus A380 engine blowout

French investigators have called for a review of the design and maintenance of titanium alloy engine parts to ensure they guard against the risks of metal fatigue following an engine blowout on an Airbus A380 exactly three years ago. France's BEA agency made the recommendation in a final report into the accident in which an Air France jet carrying more than 500 passengers lost the front section of one of its four engines while flying over Greenland, before landing safely in Canada. The move follows a perilous investigation involving a 21-month international aerial and ground search across the ice sheet to find a crucial titanium alloy fragment, buried 3 metres below the surface and just a metre away from a hidden crevasse. The probe focused on the fan hub at the centre of a 3-metre-wide fan at the front of the engine made by Engine Alliance, co-owned by General Electric and Pratt & Whitney. The BEA said a recovered fragment had shown tiny fatigue cracks in a titanium alloy called Ti-6-4 and urged regulators - the FAA and EASA - to carry out a review of design, manufacturing, maintenance and certification processes. "Neither the manufacturer nor the certification authorities had anticipated this phenomenon in this alloy during the design of the engine," the BEA said. Such recommendations by leading investigators do not have to be followed automatically but typically carry some weight.<br/>