Airlines checking 737 engines after US incident

SINGAPORE: Some major customers of Boeing’s popular 737 jets, including Korean Air Lines Co Ltd, said yesterday they were inspecting engines of the type that blew apart mid-air on a fatal Southwest Airlines flight on Tuesday.

European regulators this month began requiring an inspection by early next year, and a person familiar with the matter said United States regulators were near a similar rule, which affects a number of 737s in operation globally.

Southwest Flight 1380 made an emergency landing in Philadelphia on Tuesday after an engine ripped apart mid-air, shattering a window and nearly sucking a passenger through. One of 144 passengers died.

The actions by regulators show that there has been some concern, albeit non-urgent, about the engine, a workhorse of the global civil aviation fleet that has logged more than 350 million hours of safe travel, but was also being examined after a 2016 accident.

The CFM56-7B engine type involved in the Southwest incident was produced by a joint venture of US firm General Electric Co and France’s Safran SA called CFM International. It is one of the most common engines, paired with the world’s most-sold plane, the Boeing 737.

Southwest said it was speeding up inspections of all related engines out of extra caution, which it expected to complete in 30 days.

An early review of the failed Southwest engine found apparent metal fatigue where a fan blade had broken off, Robert Sumwalt, chairman of the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), said on Tuesday.

Korean Air said yesterday it had not yet been prompted by its regulators for a check, but it planned to inspect engines used on its entire 737 fleet by November following the Southwest incident.

Between 20 per cent and 30 percent of its 35 Boeing 737 jets used the same type of fan blade as the one on the Southwest jet, a Korean Air official said.

A Japan Airlines Co Ltd spokesman said two 737 jets in its fleet had engines with affected fan blades and inspections were under way.

Australia’s Qantas Airways Ltd, a large 737 operator, said its engines were of a slightly different model than the one affected.

Spokespeople for several other major airlines operating 737s could not be reached immediately for comment.