FAA and EASA emergency airworthiness directive leads to delays at Southwest

On April 20, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an Emergency Airworthiness Directive (EAD) requiring operators to inspect fan blades on certain CFM56-7B engines within 20 days. The emergency AD was prompted by the recent event on a Southwest Airlines 737-700, where one of its CFM56-7B engines failed due to a fractured fan blade, resulting in the engine inlet cowl disintegrating. Debris penetrated the fuselage causing a loss of pressurization and prompting an emergency descent. Although the airplane landed safely, there was one passenger fatality. The FAA warns in the AD that “fan blade failure due to cracking, if not