LOCAL, STATE & NATION
6A — BAKER CITY HERALD
Boeing recommends grounding 777s
after engine blows apart at Denver
■ United Airlines flight made safe emergency landing and no one was hurt
The Associated Press
Boeing has recommended
that airlines ground all 777s
with the type of engine that
blew apart after takeoff
from Denver this weekend,
and most carriers that fl y
those planes said they would
temporarily pull them from
service.
The U.S. Federal Avia-
tion Administration ordered
United Airlines to step up
inspections of the aircraft
after one of its fl ights made
an emergency landing at
Denver International Airport
Saturday as pieces of the
casing of the engine, a Pratt
& Whitney PW4000, rained
down on suburban neighbor-
hoods. None of the 231 pas-
sengers or 10 crew were hurt,
and the fl ight landed safely,
authorities said. United is
among the carriers that has
grounded the planes.
FAA Administrator Steve
Dickson said in a statement
Sunday that based on an
initial review of safety data,
inspectors “concluded that the
inspection interval should be
stepped up for the hollow fan
blades that are unique to this
model of engine, used solely
on Boeing 777 airplanes.”
Dickson said that would
likely mean some planes
would be grounded — and
Boeing said they should be
until the FAA sets up an
inspection regime. Japan
ordered the planes out of ser-
vice, according to the fi nancial
newspaper Nikkei, while
noting that an engine in the
same family suffered trouble
in December.
Boeing said there were
69 777s with the Pratt &
Whitney 4000-112 engines
in service and another 59 in
storage.
United had 24 of the planes
in service; it is the only U.S.
airline with the engine in its
fl eet, according to the FAA.
Two Japanese airlines have
another 32 that are being
pulled while Asiana Airlines
grounded nine, seven of
which were in service, until
Boeing establishes a plan to
fi x the problems. Korean Air
said it was discussing wheth-
er to ground 16 aircraft, six of
which are in service.
“We are working with these
regulators as they take ac-
tions while these planes are
on the ground and further
inspections are conducted by
Pratt & Whitney,” Boeing said
in a statement issued Sunday,
referring to American and
Japanese regulators.
The engine maker said it
was sending a team to work
with investigators.
The emergency landing
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2021
Two arrested in
separate reports
of family fights
■ Haines man accused of throwing a
knife at his brother, and Huntington
man charged with punching son-in-law
By Chris Collins
ccollins@bakercityherald.com
Florida Times-Union/File Photo
A Boeing 777 airliner.
Broomfi eld (Colorado) Police Department/Contributed Photo
This photo released by Broomfi eld Police Department
on Twitter shows debris from a commercial airliner that
narrowly missed a home as it fell onto Denver suburbs
during an emergency landing Saturday, Feb. 20.
this past weekend is the
latest trouble for Boeing,
which saw its 737 Max planes
grounded for more than a
year after two deadly crashes
in 2019 and is suffering amid
the huge reduction in air
travel due to the coronavirus
pandemic. The Max planes
began returning to the skies
late last year — a huge
boost for the aircraft maker,
which lost billions during
the grounding because it has
been unable to deliver new
planes to customers.
Video posted on Twitter
from Saturday’s emergency
showed the engine fully en-
gulfed in fl ames as the plane
fl ew through the air. Freeze
frames from different video
taken by a passenger sitting
slightly in front of the engine
and also posted on Twitter
appeared to show a broken
to ensure these aircraft meet
our rigorous safety standards
and can return to service.”
The NTSB said the cockpit
voice recorder and fl ight data
recorder were transported to
its lab in Washington so the
data can be analyzed. NTSB
investigations can take up to
a year or longer, although in
major cases the agency gener-
ally releases some investiga-
tive material midway through
the process.
Japan’s Ministry of Land,
Infrastructure, Transport and
Tourism said an engine in the
PW4000 family suffered trou-
ble on a Japan Airlines 777
fl ying to Tokyo from Naha on
Dec. 4. The airline has said
the plane had engine trouble
after takeoff and returned to
Naha. An inspection showed
damage to the engine case
and missing fan blades, ac-
cording to the airline. Stricter
inspections were ordered in
response.
Japan Airlines and All
Nippon Airways will stop op-
erating a combined 32 planes
with that engine, Nikkei
reported.
Baker County Sheriff’s deputies arrested two Baker
County men on charges related to two separate fi ghts
with family members Saturday night —
one at Haines and one at Huntington.
Both men were lodged at the Baker
County Jail, a press release stated.
Nathen Ray Kirk, 34, of Haines, is being
held on a menacing charge for allegedly
Nathen
throwing a knife at his brother, Chance
Kirk
Michael Kirk, 36, of Haines.
Robert James Brown, 69, of Huntington
was jailed on a charge of fourth-degree
domestic assault and later released on bail.
He is accused of punching his son-in-law,
David Anthony Hanks, 31, of Huntington,
in the face.
Brown
The Sheriff’s Department was dis-
patched to the fi ght between the two
Haines brothers at 9:57 p.m., the press release stated.
The two men had been arguing when Nathen Kirk
lunged at his brother with a knife.
After that, Chance went into another room to retrieve
a can of pepper spray, the release stated. As Chance
came out of the room, Nathen threw the knife at his
brother. Chance Kirk was not hit by the knife.
Chance then sprayed Nathen in the face with the
pepper spray, according to the press release.
Nathen fi rst was treated for his injuries from the pep-
per spray and then was arrested and transported to the
Baker County Jail, according to the press release.
Huntington incident
The Dispatch Center received a report of a domestic
disturbance at Huntington about 10:35 p.m. Saturday, a
second press release stated.
Deputies determined that David Hanks had been in
an argument with his wife, but there had been no crime.
As part of the investigation, deputies also learned
that earlier in the evening, Hanks had driven to the
home of his father-in-law, Robert Brown. As Hanks sat
in his vehicle outside Brown’s home, Brown allegedly
came out and struck Hanks in the face with his fi st
several times.
Hanks was injured in the altercation, the press
release stated.
Deputies made contact with Brown, arrested him and
transported him to the Baker County Jail.
fan blade in the engine.
Passengers, who were
headed to Honolulu, said they
feared the plane would crash
after an explosion and fl ash
of light, while people on the
ground saw huge chunks of
the aircraft pour down, just
missing one home and crush-
ing a truck. The explosion,
visible from the ground, left
a trail of black smoke in the
sky.
The U.S. National Trans-
portation Safety Board said
that two of the engine’s fan
blades were fractured and
the remainder of the fan
blades “exhibited damage.”
But it cautioned that it was
too early to draw conclusions
about what happened.
United says it will work
closely with the FAA and the
NTSB “to determine any ad-
ditional steps that are needed
Ice storm damaged cherry
trees outside Oregon Capitol
SALEM (AP) — The regionally famous
cherry trees on Oregon’s Capitol Mall were
damaged in last weekend’s ice storm.
At least two of the 150 Akebono fl owering
cherry trees that line the park leading up to the
statehouse will need to be removed and the rest
will be thinned out signifi cantly after sustain-
ing signifi cant damage, the Statesman Journal
reported Friday.
The cherry trees, planted in 1992, attract
visitors from around the region when they
bloom in March and April and inspired the
Capitol’s annual Cherry Blossom Day. The two
rows of trees lining the mall, with their gorgeous
pink-and-white blooms, are regarded as a visual
representation of the coming of spring.
Right now, it’s unknown how the lost limbs
will impact the cherry trees’ survival or affect
the aesthetics of the mall, said Kevin Strand-
berg, park manager with the Oregon Depart-
ment of Parks and Recreation.
“We’ll be further assessing the trees in the
future once the initial cleanup is done,” he said.
Strandberg said removal might be good for
the health of other cherry trees. The two so far
identifi ed as needing removal were already
growing quite close to neighboring trees, despite
frequent pruning, crowding the canopies.
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210 Bridge St. Baker City, OR
CCB#231936 LCB# 9809