Airworthiness Directives; Rolls-Royce Deutschland Ltd. & Co. KG Engines
Key claim: Airlines cannot fly twin-engine planes with two of these Rolls-Royce Trent engines if both have the affected oil pumps, after reports of low oil pressure from nonconforming pumps.
Abstract
(Rule · Transportation Department, Federal Aviation Administration) The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all Rolls-Royce Deutschland Ltd. & Co. KG (RRD) Model RB211 Trent 768-60, 772-60, and 772B-60 engines. The FAA previously sent this AD as an emergency AD to all known U.S. owners and operators of these engines. This AD was prompted by reports of non-conformances leading to low oil pressure events on low life oil pumps. This AD requires de-pairing of engines on airplanes with two affected engines installed to ensure no more than one affected oil pump is installed on twin-engine airplanes. The FAA is issuing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.
[This finding represents 2 closely related documents issued 2026-09-18 (same source, same action). Related: fedreg:2026-19171]
Why this matters
Airworthiness directives like this one translate individual component defects into enforceable operating restrictions, in this case blocking a twin-engine aircraft from flying if both of its Rolls-Royce Trent engines carry the suspect oil pumps. The dual-engine installation prohibition is a common FAA tool to preserve redundancy when a latent failure mode could otherwise take out both powerplants simultaneously.