Hundreds Of Planes Will Undergo Emergency Inspections After A Woman Was Killed On A Southwest Flight

Handout . / Reuters

US aviation officials have ordered emergency inspections of hundreds of airplane engines just days after a woman died on a Southwest plane that suffered an engine explosion.

The Federal Aviation Administration order issued Friday requires operators of planes using a specific engine, the CFM56-7B, to inspect those engines' fan blades within 20 days. About 352 engines in the US and 681 worldwide will have to under go the inspections, the FAA said, citing estimates from the manufacturer.

The inspections only apply to engines with more than 30,000 total cycles — one "cycle" includes the process of starting up, taking off, landing, and then shutting down — since they were new.

The damaged Southwest plane Tuesday in Philadelphia.

Mark Makela / Reuters

The inspections are a direct response to an incident Tuesday in which a Southwest Airlines plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Philadelphia shortly after departing New York City. The landing happened after the left engine on the Boeing 737-700 exploded, breaking cabin windows in the process.

A woman, Jennifer Riordan, reportedly was partially sucked out of a broken window during the incident and ultimately died from her injuries.

The FAA said Friday in a statement that the Southwest plane's engine failed "due to a fractured fan blade, resulting in the engine inlet cowl disintegrating."

"Fan blade failure due to cracking, if not addressed, could result in an engine in-flight shutdown (IFSD), uncontained release of debris, damage to the engine, damage to the airplane, and possible airplane decompression," the statement added.

The engines that must be inspected are manufactured by CFM International. Shortly before the FAA order Friday, CFM recommended inspections for engines with 30,000 cycles within 20 days, as well as inspections of engines with 20,000 cycles by August.

The company described the CFM56-7B engine as a "workhorse" that went into operation in 1997 and has since logged more than 350 million flight hours. There are currently about 14,000 CFM56-7B engines in operation.

Though the FAA isn't requiring inspections of engines with fewer than 30,000 cycles, it did say in its statement that it is leaving the door open to "further rulemaking."

LINK: A Woman Was Killed After An Engine On A Southwest Flight Exploded In Midair

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