CRJ-200 Engine problems?

[mooneyguy]

Below is a article reposted from the Daily Launch. I'm curious to here from CRJ-200 people what your take is of this?

NTSB finds safety risks for CF34-3B1s' fan blades "unacceptably high."
Aviation Week (3/6, Fiorino) reported, "Defective fan blades on General Electric CF34-3B1s should be taken out of service before another in-flight fire or engine failure occurs," according to the NTSB, which classified "the associated safety risks" as "unacceptably high" in a March 5 recommendation letter. The NTSB "cites two previous failures, both involving Bombardier CRJ-200s." In the first instance, "[i]nspectors determined that a fan blade...fractured and separated below the platform in the disk attachment area" while a plane was in flight, which "resulted in extensive thermal" and "engine mechanical damage, including a crack in the engine accessory gearbox." In the second instance, "inspectors determined that the blade in the No. 2 (right) engine separated below the platform in the blade attachment area." Aviation Week noted, "In both events, the low pressure turbine case-to-turbine transition case flange failed, with the LPT case shifting aft and rotating slightly." The NTSB's "recommendations [also] include asking the FAA to require that GE Aviation" modify the engine's design and "[e]stablish a reasonable maximum cycle limit."

[PCL_128]

Surprising. Besides the core lock issues, I always found the CF34s to be extremely reliable engines.

[NC_BE300]

Huh.
Same here for what PCL_128 said.
The B1 engines have a little more power....which is much nicer when making those heavy weight climbs to cruise-so anytime i get one of those planes-its a welcome performance change.

[ComplexHiAv8r]

Well, its out.

NTSB: Ground GE CF34s With Cracked Fan Blades

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/gener.../NTSB03108.xml

Is/Was this the only engine option for the CRJ-200?

[cime_sp]

Also not mentioned was the uncontained failure of the Mesa CRJ which took off out of DEN. I'm not sure they ever found the rest of that engine, but it looked as though the fan came apart on that one too.

[PCL_128]

Yes, CF-34s were the only engines used on the -200s.

[NuevaLuna]

Originally Posted by PCL_128

Surprising. Besides the core lock issues, I always found the CF34s to be extremely reliable engines.

Me too. Except once back in '03. 17 of the 26 (I think) blades were trashed. Fun night.

[PCL_128]

What happened? Bird ingestion, or just internal failure? I had to shut one down once for low oil pressure, but never any actual turbine component failures.

[NuevaLuna]

Originally Posted by PCL_128

What happened?

Its been over 4 years but this is what I recall:
Descending thru 22,000 ft, heard a loud bang...like a gunshot...the whole airplane shuttered then vibrated badly. The engine kept running though and the VIB gauge would go back to the green range below about 50% N1. We elected to do a flaps 20 landing but kept the eng at idle (per maint recommendation) in case of a go-around. I walked around the airplane after we got to the gate and counted 17 blades that were damaged...badly damaged. No evidence of a bird strike or anything else was obvious. Not sure maint ever figured out exactly what happened.