Army Grounds CH-47 Chinook Helicopters
CH-47s with Honeywell Engines Grounded Due to “Small Number” of Fires
The Wall Street Journal reported that the Army grounded 70 CH-47 helicopters out of an “abundance of caution” due to a small number of engine fires. A failed part was thought to be the cause of the fires.
An Army spokeswoman said the service identified the root cause of the fuel leaks, and the Army is taking steps to resolve the issue.
Troubleshooting or Root Cause Analysis
When a part has been identified as failing, I think of that process as troubleshooting, not root cause analysis.
Root cause analysis would include a complete understanding of what happened, as well as the determination of Causal Factors. Then each of the Causal Factors would be analyzed for its root causes.
For an equipment-related issue, the Equifactor®/TapRooT® Process would look like this…
Finding the failed part would be the troubleshooting part of the process (step 2).
Causal Factors could include manufacturing errors, inspection errors, assembly errors, maintenance failures, testing errors, or improper use of the helicopters. Also, the investigator would look for previous failures that may not have been adequately assessed.
The root cause analysis of these Causal Factors (and all the information about each Causal Factor) would be performed using the TapRooT® Root Cause Tree® Diagram.
Once the root causes were identified for each Causal Factor, the team would decide if adequate Safeguards were available after the root causes were fixed with effective corrective actions.
Find Out More About Equifactor® Troubleshooting and TapRooT® Root Cause Analysis
The best way to learn more about Equifactor® Troubleshooting and TapRooT® RCA is to attend one of our courses.
See the Equifactor® Courses HERE.
And the TapRooT® Root Cause Analysis Courses HERE.
You can take a 1-Day Equifactor® Troubleshooting Course followed by a 2-Day TapRooT® Root Cause Analysis Course held in Houston, Texas, on November 14-16 and SAVE $200 off the courses as priced separately. Call 865-539-2139 for more information.
