General Electric is investigating a second failure of its GEnx jet engine after a Boeing 747-8 freighter flown by AirBridgeCargo Airlines lost thrust during takeoff in Shanghai three days ago.

The GEnx-2B engine will be sent to the U.S. to be taken apart "in a matter of days," and all units in service are being inspected, spokesman Rick Kennedy said in an email.

Visual checks found damage to the low-pressure turbine, with no breach of the casing, he said.

The failure is the second in less than two months involving a GEnx power plant from GE, the world's biggest maker of jet engines. U.S. safety officials are investigating why a GEnx component called the fan mid-shaft fractured and spewed hot metal parts during a test run of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner on July 28.

"If this is another mid-shaft failure, it places the engine and the airframes that are powered by it under a cloud," said Robert Mann, a former American Airlines fleet manager who is now an aviation consultant.

While a single part breakdown would be seen as a "one-off," a second on a different plane "would be a problem," he said.

GE has finished its review of GEnx engines on the global 787 fleet, Kennedy said. About a dozen of Boeing's four-engine 747-8 freighters remain to be checked, he said.

The data are being shared with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) as that agency investigates the Dreamliner case.

GE has introduced a new coating process to the affected part of new engines, Kennedy said.

An NTSB spokesman declined to comment on the Shanghai incident. Under international treaties, the board would participate in the Shanghai probe because the plane maker and engine manufacturer are U.S. companies.

Bret Jensen, a Boeing spokesman, said the company couldn't discuss the case because of the NTSB inquiry.

AirBridgeCargo, a unit of Russia's Volga-Dnepr Group, is the country's largest cargo carrier and has a fleet of 12 Boeing 747s. A call placed to the airline's Moscow headquarters before regular business hours Thursday was answered, then terminated.

The carrier received its first 747-8, the latest variant of the iconic, humpbacked jumbo jet, in January and the second in March. It has three more on order.

The company has delivered 10 GEnx-1B engines for the twin-engine Dreamliner and 108 GEnx-2B engines for the 747-8.

The GEnx is the only engine option on the 747-8, while GE competes with Rolls-Royce Holdings for engines on the 787.

"GE continually monitors and analyzes the performance of the GEnx fleet in service, and we are not aware of operational issues that would affect the continued safe flight of aircraft powered by these engines," Kennedy said.