Today, Pratt & Whitney is an American aerospace manufacturer with global service operations, but it got its start when a machine tool company was approached for funding in the mid-1920s by an aviation inventor who’d set out to develop a new aircraft engine with a large, air-cooled, radial design. The collaboration led to one of the most productive and innovative aircraft companies to ever supply the military. Unfortunately, the aircraft that the company produced used asbestos in its insulation, gaskets, and other parts. The company has been repeatedly named as a defendant in lawsuits filed by Air Force veterans, mechanics, and others diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases.
Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company History and Asbestos
The creation of the Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company was the result of a combination of innovation and opportunity. It all began in 1922, when the Washington Naval Treaty’s agreement to disarm the naval powers of five countries led to warship tonnage being reduced, leading to existing cruisers being converted to aircraft carriers that needed a fleet of fighter aircraft. Aviation engineer and Navy lieutenant Frederick B. Rentschler was sure he could build an airplane that could meet the Navy’s specifications of a 400-horsepower engine weighing 650 pounds or less, but he needed investment capital to build what he and his design team had drawn up.[1]
Rentschler approached the owners of the Pratt & Whitney Machine Tool Company of Hartford, Connecticut for financial resources. The company had both the money and extra factory space, and a partnership was formed with the understanding that the company would operate using the Pratt & Whitney name with Rentschler in charge. Soon the company was building an efficient, air-cooled radial engine that provided more power with less weight than the V-8 automotive engines that had previously been used for aviation. The design relied on a split crankship to increase the engine’s revolutions per minute without generating additional heat. Rentschler’s wife called the engine the Wasp, and soon a second design rated at 525 horsepower was named the Hornet.[1]
In 1926, the U.S. Navy ordered 200 of the innovative engines, and soon commercial aircraft manufacturers were ordering them too. By 1940, the company was building the Twin Wasp, capable of producing 1,200 horsepower, and as aircraft manufacturers were asked to produce 50,000 aircraft a year for the war effort, Pratt & Whitney expanded its workforce from 3,000 employees to 40,000. By the end of the war, the company had created an even bigger engine with a capacity of 3,600 horsepower and had produced more than 363,000 aircraft engines in its factory and through its licensees. In all, Pratt & Whitney aircraft engines powered half of the total air power of the Allied Air Forces in World War II. Those engines all relied on components that were fabricated with asbestos-containing parts.[2]
After World War II, Pratt & Whitney continued developing new aircraft engine designs, including the asbestos-containing Turboprop T34-P-3 Cutaway which was used in high-performance, long-range aircraft. It was installed in a Boeing KC-97J, which later became the B-377 Super Guppy. The Air Force also ordered the engine’s installation in the Douglas C-133A Cargomaster.[2] The company continued innovating and eventually shifted its design strategy to manufacturing jet turbine engines, which also used asbestos.
How Did Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company Use Asbestos?
In the United States and around the world, asbestos was a highly valued material used in multiple applications that required strength and insulation against heat and flame. In addition to its useful characteristics, it was easily accessible and inexpensive, making it especially attractive for use by the American military as well as by private industry.
Over 125,000 Pratt & Whitney R2800 model engines were produced from approximately 1939 until 1960. It was the main airplane engine produced by the company during World War II and for decades thereafter, and it was manufactured using numerous asbestos-containing components, including:[3]
- Gaskets
- O-rings
- Hose clamps
- Wire insulation
- Packings
- Bushings
Pratt & Whitney Engines That Contained Asbestos
Pratt & Whitney built dozens of different types of engines using asbestos-containing parts in the years between World War II and the 1980s. After this time, asbestos use was largely discontinued following the discovery of its carcinogenic nature. Models included:
- R-1340 Wasp
- F-100
- J-57
- J-58
- J-75
- JT-3D
- TF-33
- JT-8D
- PT-1
- R-985 Wasp Junior
- R-1535 Twin Wasp Junior
- R-1690 Hornet
- R-1830 Twin Wasp
- R-1860 Hornet B
- R-2000 Twin Wasp
- R-2060 Yellow Jacket
- R-2180A Twin Hornet
- R-2180E Twin Wasp E
- R-2800 Double Wasp
- R-4360 Wasp Major
- T-34
- T-73
- T-800
- X-1800
- XH-3130
- XT-57
Who Was Affected by Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company Products?
There is a long list of people whose lives have been changed forever by the asbestos used in Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company engines. While many of those exposed to the carcinogenic material were employees of the company who had to work with asbestos-containing parts within a factory that was constructed with asbestos-containing materials.
Additionally, mechanics who maintained and repaired the engines were at risk of asbestos fibers that were disturbed when parts were removed and replaced and other work was done on the aircraft engines. The mechanics who worked with these asbestos-containing materials were not aware that the materials they were working with were carcinogenic, so they took no precautions to prevent themselves from inhaling airborne particles. Those microscopic fibers, once inhaled or ingested, became embedded in the lining of the lungs and eventually caused cell death and mutations that develop into diseases including malignant mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, COPD, and asbestosis.
In addition to the risk faced by those who were exposed to asbestos at work, innocent family members of those workers were also sickened by secondary exposure to asbestos carried home on their loved one’s hair, skin, and clothing. Many of those sickened by asbestos in Pratt & Whitney’s engines have filed personal injury lawsuits against the company seeking compensation for the harm that they’ve suffered.
What to Do if You Were Exposed to Asbestos in Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company Engines
Though Pratt & Whitney had its start nearly 80 years ago, the company’s asbestos-contaminated engines were used for decades, and asbestos was not removed from them until the 1980s. If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with mesothelioma or another asbestos-related disease and you believe that exposure to Pratt & Whitney engines played a role in your illness, it’s important to talk to an experienced asbestos attorney who will review your case to assess your rights. If you are eligible to file a claim, they will pursue justice against all of the asbestos companies responsible for your exposure.
