The directives from the US Federal Aviation Administration and the European Aviation Safety Agency indicated rising concerns since a similar failure in 2016 of the same type of engine – a CFM56-7B engine, made by CFM International. The FAA said the engine on Southwest Airlines flight 1380 exploded on Tuesday when a fan blade broke off. The blast shattered a window, killing one woman, in the first US passenger airline fatality since 2009. Several major airline officials said the order would primarily affect airlines with higher use of aircraft covering shorter routes. The European order states that after the first inspection, airlines must repeat the process every 3,000 cycles, which typically represents about two years in service.

Source: The Guardian April 21, 2018 07:54 UTC