From: "Bill Hough" <psa188@xxxxxxxx> Sent: Wednesday, January 21, 2004 10:01 AM <snip< On Jan. 6, an MD-81 had to abort its takeoff at Fukuoka airport in southern Japan due to vibrations in an engine. A MD-87 returned to Kagoshima airport, also in southern Japan, the next day after developing a similar problem. Inspections of the two planes turned up cracks in a compressor in their engines. Similar cracks were later discovered in three more aircraft, prompting the airline to check all 25 operating aircraft of the same type, officials said. On Monday, engineers found cracks and missing blades in seven more aircraft, besides the five that had been already set aside, Yoshimura said. In some cases, blades in the compressor parts were missing, he said. Cracks or missing blades in the compressor can cause a plane's engine to vibrate, lose power, or even stop, he said. The affected aircraft were produced by McDonnell Douglas, which merged with Boeing Co. in 1997. JAS uses the aircraft only for domestic flights. <snip> Are these P&W engines? How are our mad dogs and DC-9's doing? 12 out of 25 just discovered sounds like a lot. Should I really take a Delta MD month after next? Gerry http://www.pbase.com/gfoley9999/ http://foley.ultinet.net/~gerry/aerial/aerial.html http://home.columbus.rr.com/gfoley http://www.fortunecity.com/victorian/pollock/263/egypt/egypt.html