US regulator orders mass inspections of jet engines

Signs of metal fatigue were found where the fan blade separated from the engine. Pic/AFP

The US Federal Aviation Administration said on Wednesday it would order inspection of some 220 jet engines after investigators said a broken fan blade started off an engine explosion on a Southwest Airlines flight, shattering a window and killing a passenger.

The order, called an air-worthiness directive, would require an ultrasonic inspection within the next six months of the fan blades on all CFM56-7B engines that have accrued a certain number of takeoffs. Bank executive Jennifer Riordan, 43, was killed in the engine explosion.

220
No. of jet engines that will be inspected

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