Airlines worldwide are thinking of grounding planes for inspections.
This possible action comes just days after Southwest Airlines started inspections on planes following last Friday’s incident when a hole tore through a jet and forced an emergency landing.
It is an investigation that affects 737, one of the most common planes in service.
Dallas-based Southwest grounded 79 of its planes Friday. 57 have been checked and returned to service. Inspections have found another three planes also had cracks.
Boeing will notify all airlines with 737-300's to check their planes.
Federal accident investigators admit they have not required high tech inspections of the part of the plane that broke apart on Friday. They did not think it was a problem, but now they are working to change that.
As a result of Friday’s incident Southwest is testing the outside skin of the plane with a high frequency current that detects cracks not visible to the human eye.
"How many times does it have to happen before they upgrade what needs to be done to catch these issues," said Andy Payne, aviation lawyer.
Payne is an attorney and he has been a pilot for more than 20 years. He explained that cracks develop in the skin of planes over time, because every time they go up, they expand and contract.
"That metal over time of expanding and contracting develops fatigue cracks and in this aircraft it's happened 40,000 times approximately and eventually in those times something will let loose," Payne said.
Boeing is preparing a service bulletin for 737-300s, recommending inspections for those that have logged about as many flights as that damaged Southwest aircraft.
Airlines using the aircraft include Southwest and Lufthansa. American and Continental United do not use the aircraft. Delta did not immediately respond to questions on the subject, but records indicate its fleet does not include the aircraft
This was not the first time Southwest has had a problem with the 737-300. A hole appeared in the fuselage of another Southwest 300 in 2009. The pilot made an emergency landing.
Email:chawes@wfaa.com
