FAA orders high-tech inspections of jet engines on Boeing 777s

The Federal Aviation Administration’s airworthiness directive mandates that the titanium fan blades on certain Pratt & Whitney engines be examined immediately before they can return to service.

US aviation regulators on Tuesday issued stringent new inspection requirements to ensure Pratt & Whitney engines like the one that broke apart over a Denver suburb on Saturday are safe.

The damaged starboard engine of United Airlines flight 328, a Boeing 777-200, is seen following a February 20 engine failure incident. (REUTERS)

The Federal Aviation Administration’s airworthiness directive mandates that the titanium fan blades on certain Pratt & Whitney engines be examined immediately before they can return to service. Pratt & Whitney is a division of Raytheon Technologies Corp.

The action was prompted by the violent failure of a fan blade on one of two engines mounted on a United Airlines plane, a Boeing Co. 777-200.

After the 40.5-inch (103-centimeter) blade snapped, it tore off another blade and the front structure of the engine, pelting a suburban neighborhood with metal and other debris.

No one was hurt on the ground and the plane landed safely.