The Federal Aviation Administration issued an emergency airworthiness directive on Sunday calling for immediate or intensified inspections of aircraft similar to the one that caught fire in Denver this weekend.
The order covers Boeing 777 aircraft equipped with certain Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines and “will probably mean that some aircraft will be taken out of service,” said FAA Administrator Steve Dickson. he said in a statement.
The order came after a United Airlines passenger plane powered by two Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines suffered a fiery engine failure in the air on Saturday, forcing an emergency landing.
No injuries were reported aboard the Honolulu-bound plane, despite dramatic videos showing one of the engines on fire and noisy.
They were and no injuries were reported in suburban 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 empty fan blades, which are unique to this engine model used exclusively on Boeing 777 aircraft,” Dickson said.
United is the only US operator with the PW4000 engine in its fleet.
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