ATLANTA/WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The U.S. government will order emergency checks of some Boeing Co 737s for the kind of fatigue cracks that prompted Southwest Airlines Co to ground dozens of planes and cancel hundreds of flights after a hole opened in one of its jets.
The Federal Aviation Administration directive on 737-300, 400, and 500 fuselage inspections, expected on Tuesday, will apply to the most frequently flown models. It involves a time consuming and repetitive electromagnetic check not previously required for the area of the plane in question.
“This action is designed to detect cracking in a specific part of the aircraft that cannot be spotted with visual inspection,” FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt said in a statement on Monday.
Boeing promised its own bulletin similar to the FAA order and will detail steps for inspecting joints in the fuselage that bond layers of aircraft skin.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which is investigating Friday’s incident in which a 5-foot (1.52 meter) hole opened on Southwest Flight 812 at 36,000 feet, will look to see if there is a wider problem.
But safety board member Robert Sumwalt said investigators believe the FAA and Boeing actions should take care of it.
“We have no reason to believe there are deficiencies in the fleet,” Sumwalt told reporters at a news conference in Yuma, Arizona, near the military base where the stricken Southwest jet heading from Phoenix to Sacramento landed safely. The FAA said most of the 80 jets needing new checks in the United States are flown by Southwest that have accumulated high numbers of takeoffs and landings. Overseas regulators are expected to adopt the FAA order for 95 additional planes.
