Boeing 737 planes endanger passengers as more cracks found

Boeing 737 Planes Up For Inspection

Boeing 737 aircraft will be undergoing rigorous safety inspections to find cracks and other signs of wear and tear in the planes' fuselage, the Federal Aviation Administration said Monday.

The order comes three days after a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-300 plane had to make an emergency landing after part of its cabin blew open in mid-flight.

About 80 planes in the United States and 175 in total worldwide will be subject to the inspections. Southwest Airlines, which operates the largest number of Boeing 737 aircraft in the world, has found an additional three of its planes with cabin cracks.

Southwest had to cancel 70 flights on Monday after cancelling 300 departures over the weekend to conduct its own inspections.

Fuselage cracks and metal fatigue can result from the pressurization and depressurization over the years.

Southwest Airlines reiterated that it had performed all mandatory safety checks on all its aircraft. But a possible factor contributing to metal fatigue is the heavy use of the airline's Boeing 737 planes. The aircraft affected in Friday's incident had already logged a relatively high 39,000 takeoffs and landings over the last 15 years.

"We take safety very seriously as do our maintenance folks, which is why our safety record is so solid," said airline spokesman Whitney Eichinger.

Boeing advised airline inspectors to examine more closely portions of the fuselage where joints are covered by the metal skin which are particularly vulnerable to breaking down.

The National Transportation Safety Board is currently conducting an investigation into Friday's incident involving the damaged Boeing 737.

Posted by Sophia Andrews on Tuesday April 05 2011, 6:58 AM EST. Ref: NYT. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Travel. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0