The Federal Aviation Administration on Sunday issued an emergency airworthiness directive calling for immediate or intensified inspections of planes similar to the one that caught fire in Denver this weekend.
The order covers Boeing 777 planes equipped with certain Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines and “will likely mean that some planes will be taken out of service,” FAA administrator Steve Dickson said in a statement.
The order came after a United Airlines passenger jet powered by two Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines suffered an engine failure in the air on Saturday, forcing an emergency landing.
No injuries were reported aboard the jet bound for Honolulu, despite dramatic videos showing one of the engines on fire and letting out loud.
There were also no reports of injuries in the suburb of Broomfield, where huge pieces of engine and debris landed in yards, parks and vehicles.
An initial analysis of the incident showed that “the inspection interval should be increased for hollow fan blades that are exclusive to this engine model used exclusively on Boeing 777 aircraft,” said Dickson.
United is the only US operator with the PW4000 engine type in its fleet.
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