Airlines Ground Most of World’s Boeing 737-400s

International airlines Wednesday acted to ground most of the worldwide fleet of Boeing 737-400s after three separate incidents, including the crash in Britain in January that cost 47 lives.

The airlines’ grounding of the aircraft followed a recommendation by Boeing Co. and CFM International that 33 of the world fleet of 50 737-400s should be taken out of service for modifications to their engines--the CFM 56-3C.

“This is the first time a Boeing fleet has ever been grounded. This is a major problem,” Boeing’s Paris spokesman, Sandrik de Couriss, said at the Paris Air Show.

‘Fundamental’ Problem

Meanwhile, British Midland Airways, which has two Boeing 737-400s and also operated the aircraft which crashed in Kegworth, Leicestershire, said it regarded the problems as “fundamental.” It would seek a long-term solution before calling for the aircraft to be reinstated.

Twelve of the affected aircraft operated by U.K. airlines were grounded by the Civil Aviation Authority on Monday night.

The engines were also used on two airliners, operated by Dan-Air and British Midland Airways, which were involved in scares last weekend when fan blades failed on flights from Heathrow and Gatwick. The 17 aircraft not affected are in service in the United States and use a different version of the CFM engine that has less thrust.