EASA AD No.: 2014-0168

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EASA AIRWORTHINESS DIRECTIVE

AD No.: 2014-0168

Date: 16 July 2014

Note: This Airworthiness Directive (AD) is issued by EASA, acting in accordance with Regulation 

(EC) No 216/2008 on behalf of the European Community, its Member States and of the 

European third countries that participate in the activities of EASA under Article 66 of that 

Regulation.

This AD is issued in accordance with EU 748/2012, Part 21.A.3B. In accordance with EC 2042/2003 Annex I, Part M.A.301, the 

continuing airworthiness of an aircraft shall be ensured by accomplishing any applicable ADs. Consequently, no person may operate an 

aircraft to which an AD applies, except in accordance with the requirements of that AD, unless otherwise specified by the Agency [EC 

2042/2003 Annex I, Part M.A.303] or agreed with the Authority of the State of Registry [EC 216/2008, Article 14(4) exemption].

Design Approval Holder’s Name:

ROLLS-ROYCE plc

Type/Model designation(s):

RB211 Trent 700 engines

TCDS Number: EASA.E.042

Foreign AD: Not applicable

Supersedure: None

ATA 72

Engine – High / Intermediate Pressure Turbine Bearing Support Oil 

Feed Tube Sealing Sleeve – Inspection / Replacement 

Manufacturer(s): Rolls-Royce plc (RR)

Applicability: RB211 Trent 768-60, 772-60, 772B-60 and 772C-60 engines, all serial numbers

(s/n).

These engines are known to be installed on, but not limited to, Airbus A330 

aeroplanes.

Reason: There have been nine occurrences of high oil consumption, caused by fracture 

of the High/Intermediate Pressure (HP/IP) turbine support internal oil feed tube 

Part Number (P/N) FW45909.

The oil feed tube threaded end adaptor and sealing sleeve P/N FW15003 are 

designed to form a sliding joint which, if restrained, can compress the oil feed 

tube during thermal contraction of the turbine casing at the end of the flight 

cycle. On each subsequent flight, the thermal growth and contraction of the 

turbine casing relative to the oil tube, during the heating and cooling phases of 

the flight cycle, apply a load cycle to the tube, which may lead to low cycle 

fatigue fracture.

This condition, if not detected and corrected, could lead to fire and overheating

of the turbine discs and, consequently, an uncontained engine failure, possibly 

resulting in damage to the aeroplane and injury to occupants and/or persons on 

the ground.

Investigation of the affected oil feed tube sealing sleeve P/N FW15003 found 

that one of the three different suppliers of this part has manufactured some 

sealing sleeves with the internal diameter below the drawing minimum, which 

can cause binding at the sliding joint. Investigation of the supply history 

identified a population of engines which have potentially been fitted with an 

affected sleeve during manufacture, or during Module 51 rework (check, repair 
EASA AD No.: 2014-0168

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or higher level work scope) between 1 July 2009 and 31 October 2013, as

identified in RR Non-Modification Service Bulletin (NMSB) RB.211-72-AH673.

For the reasons described above, this AD requires a one-time inspection of the 

affected engines and removal from service of all affected P/N FW15003 oil feed 

tube sealing sleeves.

Effective Date: 01 August 2014

Required Action(s) 

and Compliance

Time(s):

Required as indicated, unless accomplished previously:

Note: Where, in this AD, reference is made to an RR Mod, SB or NMSB with an 

‘A’ (Alert) in the number, it should be recognised that an earlier or later revision 

may not have that ‘A’. This kind of change does not effectively alter the 

publication references for the purpose of this AD.

(1) For engines s/n up to 42330 inclusive, except s/n 42310, 42311, 42312, 

42314 to 42317 inclusive, 42321 to 42327 inclusive, and 42329:

Within 6 months after the effective date of this AD, inspect the P/N FW15003 

oil feed tube sealing sleeve and, if it is determined that the oil feed tube 

sealing sleeve was manufactured by supplier A, as defined in RR NMSB 

RB211-72-AH673, and does not have the marking 102013, 112013 or 

102013L, take a replicast and replace the affected oil feed tube sealing 

sleeve with a serviceable oil feed tube sealing sleeve in accordance with the 

instructions of RR NMSB RB211-72-AH673.

(2) Within 30 days after taking the replicast, as required by paragraph (1) of this 

AD, send the replicast to RR in accordance with the instructions of RR 

NMSB RB211-72-AH673.

(3) For all engines: From the effective date of this AD, it is allowed to install on 

any engine an oil feed tube sealing sleeve P/N FW15003 manufactured by 

supplier A (as defined in RR NMSB RB211-72-AH673), provided the part 

has the marking 102013, 112013 or 102013L.

Ref. Publications: Rolls-Royce NMSB RB.211-72-H673 dated 30 January 2014, or Revision 1 

dated 21 February 2014, or NMSB RB.211-72-AH673 Revision 2 dated

27 June 2014.

The use of later approved revisions of this document is acceptable for 

compliance with the requirements of this AD.

Remarks: 1. If requested and appropriately substantiated, EASA can approve Alternative 

Methods of Compliance for this AD.

2. This AD was posted on 18 June 2014 as PAD 14-101 for consultation until 

09 July 2014. The Comment Response Document can be found at 

http://ad.easa.europa.eu/.

3. Enquiries regarding this AD should be referred to the Safety Information 

Section, Executive Directorate, EASA. E-mail: ADs@easa.europa.eu.

4. For any question concerning the technical content of the requirements in 

this AD, please contact your designated Rolls-Royce representative or 

download the publication from your Aeromanager account at 

www.aeromanager.com.

If you do not have a designated representative or Aeromanager account, 

please contact Corporate Communications at Rolls-Royce plc.,

P.O. Box 31, Derby, DE24 8BJ, United Kingdom,

Telephone: +44 (0) 1332 242424, or

send an e-mail through http://www.rolls-royce.com/contact/civil_team.jsp

identifying the correspondence as being related to airworthiness 

directives.