Incident: AirAsia X A333 near Learmonth on Jun 25th 2017, engine shut down in flight after severe vibrations
An AirAsia X Airbus A330-300, registration 9M-XXE performing flight D7-237 from Perth,WA (Australia) to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) with 359 people on board, was enroute at FL380 about 200nm southsouthwest of Learmonth,WA (Australia) when the left hand engine (Trent 772) suffered a blade fracture, ingested the blade resulting in severe damage in engine core and severe vibrations. The crew shut the engine down, drifted the aircraft down to FL200 and returned to Perth for a safe landing about 2 hours after the engine failure.
Passengers reported a large bang was heard followed by severe vibrations and sounds like a spinning washing machine. They were instructed to brace for landing.
Australia's emergency services reported they put their marine emergency services on stand by for a possible water landing of the aircraft north of Perth.
The airline reported the aircraft returned to Perth due to a technical problem without confirming an engine issue. Emergency services were called as precaution only as part of the standard operating procedures. The passengers were rebooked onto other flights.
On Jun 26th 2017 Australia's Transportation Safety Board (ATSB) reported the aircraft suffered moderate airframe vibration as result of an engine fault. The ATSB opened an investigation into the engine malfunction rated a serious incident. The investigation is estimated to conclude by November 2017.
The fractured blade root:
