New pressures on airlines, regulators after engine blast
PHILADELPHIA— The engine explosion aboard a Southwest Airlines jetliner puts new pressure on airlines and regulators to act faster to inspect fan blades that may have snapped and triggered the accident that killed a passenger.
Initial investigative findings show that Tuesday’s emergency was similar to an engine failure on a Southwest plane in 2016.
Investigators say a fan blade snapped off as Southwest Flight 1380 cruised at 800 km/h . The failure set off a chain of events that killed a woman and broke a string of eight straight years without a fatal accident involving a U.S. airliner.
“This fan blade was broken right at the hub, and our preliminary examination of this was there is evidence of metal fatigue where the blade separated,” NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt said.
Metal fatigue — microscopic cracks that splinter open under the stress placed on jetliners and their engines — was blamed for an engine failure on a Southwest plane in Florida in 2016. That plane and the jet that made a emergency landing Tuesday in Philadelphia had CFM56 engines.
Manufacturer CFM International, a joint venture of General Electric Co. and France’s Safran SA, recommended last June that airlines using certain CFM56 engines conduct ultrasonic inspections.
Last month, European regulators required airlines flying in Europe to conduct inspections recommended by CFM.
In the U.S., the Federal Aviation Administration proposed a similar directive last August but has not yet required the inspections.
Critics accuse the FAA of inaction in the face of a threat to safety.
Robert Clifford, a lawyer suing American Airlines over another engine explosion, said the FAA should have required the inspections.
“There is something going on with these engines,” he said.
Southwest’s CEO said it’s too soon to say if Tuesday’s incident is related to other engine failures.