

New Boeing 747s Facing Ice Accumulation Issues

Boeing and GE are working together to solve icing issues


Boeing BA AMR CorpBoeing (BA) and General Electric (GE) are working together to solve ice accumulation issues on the former’s newest 747 model.

The newest and largest Boeing 747 aircraft is the 747-8, which is powered by GE engines. The ice accumulation issues are causing the aircraft’s engines to temporarily malfunction and in some case stop working completely. The issues are happening when the plane reaches around 41,000 feet in the air, or about 7 miles above the Earth. GE claims that it may be able to make software changes that would track the accumulation and stop it before it becomes a problem. If the ice accumulation gets bad enough, it can damage turbine blades and and douse the planes ignition system. These ice accumulation issues have caught GE, Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration off guard. Experts have previously believed that icing issues occur below 25,000 feet. GE has been investigating four incidents where 747-8’s experienced issues due to ice accumulation, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Boeing has previously had trouble with glitches and malfunctions in several of its 787 Dreamliners.

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