Following an accident on Southwest Airlines (SWA) Flight 1380 in April 2018 that resulted in the death of passenger Jennifer Riordan, the National Transportation Safety Board announced the probable cause during a public board meeting held last week. A fractured fan blade from a CFM International CFM-56-7B engine, powering a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700, led to the engine inlet and fan cowl separating and subsequently damaging the fuselage, resulting in a rapid cabin depressurization.
NTSB Issues Seven Recommendations After SWA 1380 Accident
Key Takeaways:
- The NTSB determined the 2018 Southwest Flight 1380 accident, which resulted in one fatality and rapid cabin depressurization, was caused by a low-cycle fatigue crack in an engine fan blade that led to fan cowl separation and fuselage damage.
- As a result, the NTSB issued seven new safety recommendations to the FAA, EASA, and Southwest Airlines, focusing on ensuring the structural integrity of fan cowls on Boeing 737 Next-Generation series airplanes.
- Key recommendations include requiring Boeing to redesign and retrofit fan cowl structures on 737 NGs and mandating collaborative analysis between airplane and engine manufacturers to account for critical fan blade impact locations and their effects on nacelle structures.
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