UPDATE 1-GE alerts airlines about engine part after American Airlines fire

Hello Dear Visitors,

General Electric Co is seeking to remove an engine part from service after an American Airlines jet erupted in flames last week, it told air carriers in a letter seen by Reuters on Saturday.

The manufacturer has identified a “limited number” of parts closely related to one used by American that had a "material anomaly," according to the letter sent on Friday.

All but one of the parts are now out of service, GE said in the letter. It added that it was working with the single airline with an aircraft still equipped with the part to ensure its removal from service.

GE did not name the airline. A company spokesman, Rick Kennedy, confirmed that GE had sent the letter and said it was still in the early stage of an "intense investigation."

On Oct. 28, American Airlines Flight 383 from Chicago to Miami aborted takeoff following an "uncontained" engine failure, a rare event in which components spew from an engine and can tear through the aircraft cabin or rupture fuel tanks in the wings. The airline was flying a Boeing Co 767 aircraft with CF6-80C2 engines made by GE.

In this instance, the failure caused a fuel leak that resulted in a fire, though no one aboard was seriously injured.

An American Airlines spokesman said none of the company's aircraft in operation had the additional parts that GE referred to in the letter. The spokesman added that American was turning over a part from an engine not in operation to the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) for further examination.

U.S. investigators have yet to assign blame for last week's incident. However, they said on Friday that a so-called stage 2 disk in the engine showed what appeared to be cracking. 

The disk's corrupted material likely indicated a manufacturing defect, either by the parts or metal maker, said Jim Hall, a former NTSB chairman.

In its letter, GE stressed the reliability of its CF6 engines which it said had flown more than 400 million hours since the 1970s.

GE will update engine operators if action is later required, the letter said.

Bloomberg earlier reported news of the letter from GE. Thanks.

UPDATE 1-Shots fired at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport, two men detained - TV

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ISTANBUL Turkish authorities briefly barred cars from entering and leaving Istanbul's main Ataturk Airport on Sunday after police fired shots when a motorcycle refused an order to stop, CNN Turk said.

One of two men aboard the motorcycle was wounded and detained and the second was apprehended by police after a pursuit, the private broadcaster reported. No police or civilians were reported hurt.

In June, suicide bombers suspected of belonging to Islamic State killed 41 people and wounded some 240 others with gunfire and explosives at the airport.

The latest incident did not affect flights at Ataturk, Europe's third-busiest airport, the channel reported. Ataturk is the hub of state-run carrier Turkish Airlines.

It was not immediately clear why the police ordered the men to stop.

On Friday, a car bomb detonated in the mainly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, killing 11 people and wounding at least 100. Officials blamed the autonomy-seeking Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), although Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, according to the group's Amaq news agency.

Kurdish militants, Islamic State radicals and far leftists have all staged attacks on civilians in Turkey in recent years. Thanks.