FAA approval of GE9X seal fix required for 777-9 certification: official

GE is working to achieve regulatory approval for a redesign.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will not certificate Boeing’s 777-9 until after approving GE Aerospace’s fix to a seal within the widebody aircraft’s GE9X turbofan, an agency official says.

The clarification sheds light on how a durability problem with the powerplant’s mid-seal, disclosed in January, has impacted Boeing’s ability to get the long-delayed 777-9 through the FAA’s review process.

GE has made design changes for which it is now seeking FAA approval, which it aims to have before year-end.

In September, GE chief financial officer Rahul Ghai had said, “We do not need the new mid-seal for certification… We can have certification completed with the existing mid-seal”.

But Caitlin Locke, associate administrator for the FAA’s safety oversight and certification office, said on 20 October that the regulator’s mid-seal certification is a prerequisite to it granting the 777-9’s type certificate.

“Ultimately, for the aircraft to be certified, that needs to be corrected,” Locke tells FlightGlobal. “It’s a certification issue inherent to the design.”

FAA administrator Bryan Bedford also on 20 October addressed the mid-seal’s impact on the 777-9’s approval.

“Flight testing and especially ETOPS isn’t going to get where it needs to be without resolving the seal issue,” he says, referencing the type’s extended-range twin-engine operations approval, which is separate to the 777-9’s type certification.

Boeing declines to comment about the FAA officials’ comments, saying it is in a quiet period ahead of disclosing its third-quarter financial results, scheduled for 27 October. It may disclose more details on that day. The company has for months insisted it expects to complete the 777-9’s certification in time to begin delivering the type next year.

GE and Boeing have been working to overcome the mid-seal durability issue for months, with GE having already redesigned the seal and expressed confidence the FAA will approve its changes.

“We’ve been delivering engines to Boeing with the upgraded mid-seal since August. I think that is just the ultimate proof point with respect to our confidence – that we’ve begun not only production but also deliveries, working hard to achieve the certification of the upgraded mid-seal,” GE chief executive Larry Culp said during the company’s third-quarter earnings call on 20 October. “We’re aiming to do that by the end of the year, obviously that is subject to FAA approval.”

Boeing chief executive Kelly Ortberg addressed the mid-seal issue in January, saying the redesign’s FAA approval process was keeping Boeing from starting the 777-9’s ETOPS flight-test programme.

“We may see some some of the testing spill into the next year,” he said.

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