FAA Launching Investigation After Death on Southwest Flight 1380

As a result of the deadly explosion on Southwest Airlines Flight 1380 Tuesday, the Federal Aviation Administration will order the inspection of other planes with the same engines.

According to Reuters.com, the FAA announced Wednesday night that it will launch an air-worthiness directive at some point over the next two weeks, which will call on investigators to inspect around 220 CFM56-7B aircraft engines.

Over the next six months, the FAA’s testing will require ultrasonic inspections of fan blades on all CFM56-7B engines that have “accrued a certain number of takeoffs.” The initial estimate of 220 engines could be far lower than the actual number that needs to be inspected, as fan blades were repaired and moved to other engines.

The airworthiness directive was originally proposed in 2016 when another Southwest flight was forced to make an emergency landing in Florida after a fan blade ripped from the same style engine and tore through the wing.

The explosion of the engine on Southwest Flight 1380 sent shrapnel into the fuselage and broke one of the windows on the Boeing 737. The debris depressurized the cabin and one passenger was partially sucked through the open window.

The passenger who was pulled through the window was identified as 43-year-old Jennifer Riordan, who later died from her injuries. This was the first deadly airline accident in the United States since 2009.

National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Robert Sumwalt revealed Wednesday that one of the engine’s 24 fan blades broke off from the hub, which showed signs of metal fatigue. Officials said the investigation could take 12 to 15 months to complete.

In addition, the captain of the flight who landed the plane safely in Philadelphia without further incident, identified as former Navy fighter pilot Tammie Jo Shults, released a statement:

“As Captain and First Officer of the crew of five who worked to serve our customers aboard Flight 1380 yesterday, we all feel we were simply doing our jobs. Our hearts are heavy,” Shults and co-pilot Darren Ellisor said. “On behalf of the entire crew, we appreciate the outpouring of support from the public and our coworkers as we all reflect on one family’s profound loss. We joined our company today in focused work and interviews with investigators. We are not conducting media interviews and we ask that the public and the media respect our focus.”

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