United Technologies Says Incident Will Not Delay Certification

A Pratt & Whitney F135 engine was damaged during testing for FAA certification on Friday, but parent company United Technologies said in a teleconference that the certification process will not be delayed.

Bloomberg News reports that parts were ejected from the tailpipe of the engine being designed for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter during a static test. Congress is currently debating whether to fund an engine built by GE Aviation and Rolls Royce as an alternative to the F135, and follows a Pentagon request last month for a cost assessment of the engine program.

During the teleconference, Pratt & Whitney spokesperson Erin Dick said the company does not think the incident will pose any serious threat to FAA certification of the F135 engine. “We do not anticipate any impact to the flight-test program,” she said. “We are trying to determine what corrective action we need to take going forward. We will do whatever it takes to identify the problem.”

Dick said the damage investigation would take at least five days.

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