Manufacturing fault, not UFO, caused turbine blade failure in Scotland

LONDON - Engineers have found that a manufacturing defect, not UFO, caused the turbine blade failure at a Scottish wind farm last month.

Manufacturers Siemens, the German engineering company, discovered that the giant turbine blade snapped off because of freak problems with the glue used to coat it - scotching theories it may have been hit by lightning or, as some even suggested, an unidentified flying object.

The catastrophic failure of the 150ft-long, 14-tonne blade at the Whitelees site near Eaglesham sparked global concerns about the safety of wind farm equipment.

However, a spokesman for Siemens said that the blade broke off due to what it described as a one-off manufacturing fault in its outer coating.

“We will carry out further investigations but we think there was a manufacturing defect in the laminate that covers the blade, a weak spot which caused it to break and fall off,” the Scotsman quoted spokesman Oliver Loenker as saying. (ANI)