Southwest, Gol ground 13 Boeing 737 NG airplanes after checks

Southwest and Gol Linhas Aereas said Wednesday they had grounded a total of 13 Boeing Co 737 NG airplanes after US regulators ordered urgent inspections last week. Southwest said it had grounded two planes, while Gol said it had grounded 11. Both airlines are major operators of the 737, including the NG variant and the more recent MAX, which has been grounded for months after two deadly crashes. The US FAA last week told aircraft operators to inspect 165 Boeing 737 NG airliners for structural cracks within seven days after the issue was found on a small number of planes. Nearly all the 165 planes were Southwest aircraft, officials said. Southwest, which did not find any issues in the “vast majority” of the planes, said it “removed the two aircraft from our operation and reported the findings to Boeing and the FAA. The aircraft will remain out of our schedule until the issues have been fully resolved.” Boeing says it is working with airlines on 737 structural cracks issue<br/>Gol said that it had grounded 11 planes where it found “evidence of the need to replace a specific component, whose characteristics were not compliant with the standards set by the maker.” The Brazilian airline said the fleet change would affect 3% of its passengers between Wednesday and Dec. 15. Gol has a fleet of 115 Boeing 737 planes, setting aside its grounded MAX planes, according to its website. Last week, the FAA said more planes will eventually be inspected. The order covers a total of 1,911 U.S. registered planes. The inspections can be done visually and take about an hour per airplane. The cracks are on what is known as the “pickle fork” — a part that attaches the plane’s fuselage, or body, to the wing structure and manages forces. Aircraft with more than 30,000 cycles must be inspected within seven days, while planes between 22,600 and 29,999 cycles must be inspected within 1,000 cycles, which typically correspond to the number of flights.<br/>