FAA Seeks Enhanced Inspections

Federal aviation regulators, worried about potentially dangerous cracks on Boeing Co. 737 jets, took action aimed at ratcheting up airline inspections of more than 1,600 of the widely used planes.

The Federal Aviation Administration indicated the moves were prompted by concerns that undetected fuselage or bulkhead cracks—potentially affecting all 737 versions—could result in hazardous rapid decompressions.

The FAA's call for extra fuselage checks was prompted partly by a high-profile July 2009 incident, when an aging Southwest Airlines Co. Boeing 737 carrying 126 passengers developed a one-foot-wide hole in its aluminum skin while flying to Baltimore from Nashville. The opening at the top of the fuselage caused the cabin to suddenly lose air pressure at around 30,000ft, oxygen masks deployed and the pilots made an emergency landing in Charleston, WV, without any injuries

Within months, the FAA ordered enhanced structural inspections of more than 130 similar older Boeing 737s.

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