Eight cracked engine blades found in other jets after Southwest death

Inspections around the world after a jet engine failed earlier this year on a Southwest plane, killing a passenger, found an additional eight cases of cracked fan blades like the one that triggered the incident. The unexpected damage to the plane - caused by pieces from the exterior of the engine flying loose and striking the fuselage and wing - led to an examination of other engines and the discovery of additional cracked blades, Mr Mark Habedank, an engineer for engine-maker CFM International Inc told an investigative hearing in Washington on Wednesday. "That's a lot of blades that are cracking," said Mr John DeLisi, the chief aviation safety investigator with the NTSB, one of the questioners at the hearing. The NTSB was examining the failure to see why certification standards designed to prevent such accidents apparently weren't adequate. CFM, a joint venture between General Electric Co and France's Safran SA believes that heightened inspections of fan blades, better lubrication of where they attach and coatings on the metal blades have combined to prevent such a failure in the future, said Habedank, engineering leader for the engine, the CFM56-7B. In conjunction with the US FAA, inspection requirements have been increased on the engines this year.<br/>