NTSB issues safety recommendations following fatal Southwest accident in 2018

A fractured fan blade powering a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700 was the cause of an accident in 2018, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined during a public board meeting. The malfunction to the fractured fan blade led to the engine inlet and fan cowl separating and subsequently damaging the fuselage, resulting in a rapid cabin depressurisation. One passenger died and eight others suffered minor injuries on April 17, 2018, when the fractured fan blade impacted the fan case, causing fan cowl fragments to strike the airplane’s fuselage near a cabin window. The window departed the airplane, and the cabin rapidly depressurised. The