FAA orders 737 inspections to prevent fuselage holes [View all]

[marmar]

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Aviation Administration is ordering $5 million in new inspections for Boeing 737s in response to a hole larger than a football that was torn in the roof of an aging Southwest Airlines plane during a flight in July 2009.

The order, which will be published Wednesday in the Federal Register, calls for repetitive inspections for cracking in the top of the fuselage of 109 planes in the 300, 400 and 500 series. Most of these models are flown by Southwest in the U.S.

The more-thorough inspections for those planes are projected to cost up to a total of $5.2 million, and additional repairs could cost $17,765 per plane, according to the FAA.

In a statement Monday, the FAA says the agency "always evaluates the effectiveness of our safety improvements." The latest directive is "to reduce risk further and assure continued safe operation," the agency says. ..............(more)

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