Southwest challenged engine maker over speed of safety checks

Southwest clashed with engine-maker CFM over the timing and cost of proposed inspections after a 2016 engine accident, months before the explosion this week of a similar engine on a Southwest jet that led to the death of a passenger, public documents showed. The proposed inspections would have cost $170 per engine for two hours of labor, for a total bill to US carriers of $37,400, the US FAA said in its August 2017 proposal, citing the engine manufacturer. The documents reveal that airlines including Southwest thought the FAA had “vastly understated” the number of engines that would need to be inspected - and therefore the cost. The FAA and engine maker CFM International made the inspection recommendations after a Southwest flight in August 2016 made a safe emergency landing in Florida after a fan blade separated from the same type of engine. Debris ripped a foot-long hole above the left wing. Investigators found signs of metal fatigue. The FAA is not bound by any specified time periods in deciding whether to order inspections and must assess the urgency of each situation. Southwest and other airlines in their responses in October objected to a call by CFM to complete all inspections within 12 months. The FAA proposed up to 18 months, backed by Southwest and most carriers. Southwest also told the FAA that only certain fan blades should be inspected, not all 24 in each engine. “SWA does NOT support the CFM comment on reducing compliance time to 12 months,” Southwest wrote in an October submission. Southwest said in its submission that the FAA’s proposal would force the carrier to inspect some 732 engines in one of two categories under review - much higher than the FAA’s total estimate of 220 engines across the whole US fleet. <br/>