Aircraft
FAA To Mandate Fuselage Fatigue Inspections for Certain 737s
The FAA plans to issue an emergency airworthiness directive (AD) tomorrow that will require operators of specific early Boeing 737 models to conduct initia

The FAA plans to issue an emergency airworthiness directive (AD) tomorrow that will require operators of specific early Boeing 737 models to conduct initial and repetitive electromagnetic inspections for fatigue damage, the agency announced this afternoon.

The action, prompted by the in-flight rupture of the fuselage a Southwest Airlines 737-300 on Friday and subsequent findings of fatigue cracking in three of the airline’s other Boeing 737s, will initially apply to a total of some 175 aircraft worldwide, 80 of them registered in the U.S. Southwest Airlines operates most of the aircraft covered by the order in the U.S.