Over half of CFM56-7B engines now inspected

By April 26, 2018 January 16th, 2020 General News

Airlines have so far inspected more than half of nearly 700 CFM56-7B engines following last week’s fatal Southwest Airlines flight 1380 incident.

Airline operators and engine maker CFM International are on track to comply with US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) emergency airworthiness directives (EAD), says CFM, a joint venture between GE Aviation and Safran. So far more than 60% of the mandated ultrasonic inspections on CFM56-7B blades with more than 30,000+ cycles have been completed.

Ultrasonic inspections on fan blades used in more than 30,000 cycles are required by 10 May. The CFM56-7B engine powers the Boeing Next-Generation 737, with approximately 14,000 CFM56-7B engines operated by 60 companies globally.

CFM has also recommended completing inspections of fan blades with more than 20,000 cycles by the end of August, and inspections to all other fan blades by the time they reach 20,000 cycles. After first inspection, operators are recommended to repeat the inspection every 3,000 cycles. Those inspections for fan blades with 20,000 cycles will affect an additional 2,500 engines by August.

The engine that exploded on last week’s Southwest flight would have been affected by Friday’s inspection order, since the company said it had clocked up 40,000 cycles.