FAA Orders Check of Engines Similar to One in British Crash

The Federal Aviation Administration late Wednesday ordered all U.S. airlines with planes equipped with engines similar to the one that exploded in England last week to check for cracks in the combustion chamber, a spokesman said.

The order, which will permit the airlines to inspect the engines over a period of several weeks, was not expected to have a significant impact on air travel, although there may be “isolated” cases in which flights are affected, the agency spokesman said.

The inspections will involve about 2,000 of the JT8D-15 Pratt & Whitney engines that have a combustion chamber similar to the one in the engine that broke apart last week on a Boeing 737 as it tried to take off from Manchester, England. Fifty-four persons were killed when the British aircraft burst into flames.

The Pratt & Whitney JT8D is the most widely used jet engine in commercial service. It is on the Boeing 737-200 as well as the Boeing 727 series and the McDonnell Douglas DC-9.