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The Boeing 777s were grounded in the US and Japan after the US Federal Aviation Administration issued an emergency airworthiness directive following a catastrophic engine failure on one of the planes in Denver on Saturday.
United Airlines said it would temporarily ground all 24 Boeing 777s in active service after one of its Boeing 777-200s had to make an emergency landing over the weekend, scattering engine debris on the ground.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Sunday that an initial examination of the engine showed that two fan blades had fractured. The voice cockpit and flight data recorders were taken to a laboratory in Washington for analysis, he said.
Japan’s aviation regulator quickly followed suit, ordering Japan Airlines (JAL) and All Nippon Airways (ANA) to stop flying 777s using Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines while it considered whether to take further action. Japan said ANA operated 19 of those types and JAL operated 13.
Japan’s Transport Ministry said a JAL flight from Naha to Tokyo had to return to the airport on December 4 last year due to a left engine failure. That plane is the same age as the 26-year-old United Airlines plane involved in Saturday’s incident.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said Sunday the directive required immediate or intensified inspections of aircraft similar to the one involved in the Denver incident.
“We reviewed all available security data after yesterday’s incident,” the FAA said in a sentence. “Based on the initial information, we concluded that the inspection interval should be increased for the hollow fan blades that are unique to this engine model, which is used only in Boeing 777 aircraft.”
FAA Administrator Steve Dickson said “it will probably mean that some planes will be decommissioned.”
Pratt & Whitney, owned by Raytheon Technologies Corp, was not immediately available for comment.
Boeing said its technical advisers were supporting the US National Transportation Safety Board with their investigation.
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