Southwest cancels about 40 flights for engine inspections

Southwest said it cancelled about 40 flights on Sunday, or 1% of those scheduled, as it inspects engines after last week’s deadly accident in Pennsylvania. The airline said the cancellations were the result of the company’s announcement on Tuesday that it would over the next 30 days begin inspecting other CFM56-7B engines, manufactured by CFM International, the engine involved in last week’s accident. At the time, Southwest said those inspections would cause some impact on operations, but it has not said how many engines it planned to inspect. On Friday, the FAA and European airline regulators ordered emergency inspections within 20 days of nearly 700 aircraft engines similar to the one involved in a fatal Southwest engine blowout earlier this week. Southwest has declined to answer questions about its CFM56-7B inspection program, including how many engines were inspected prior to the accident and if the engine that failed had been inspected.<br/>