Investigators ask the public for any footage they have of the Southwest plane's engine explosion (LUV)

pulse

April 18, 2018 10:14 PM

If you have photos or videos of the Southwest Airlines flight that made an emergency landing after an engine exploded, you can send them to witness@ntsb.gov.

The National Transportation Safety Board is looking for photos and videos of the
The agency made the request on its Twitter account on Tuesday.
If you have photos or videos of the flight, you can send them to witness@ntsb.gov.

The National Transportation Safety Board is looking for photos and videos of the Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 that made an emergency landing after an engine exploded on Tuesday.

The agency made the request on its Twitter account on Tuesday.

National Transportation Safety Board chairman Robert Sumwalt said the death was the first on a US passenger airline in over nine years. Prior to Tuesday, the most recent fatal accident came in February 2009 near Buffalo, New York, when an aircraft operated by the now-defunct regional airline Colgan Air crashed and killed 50 people, including 49 on board and one person on the ground.

The NTSB sent a team to Philadelphia to investigate the crash on Tuesday. The agency said a full investigation will take 12-15 months.

On Tuesday, Sumwalt said one of the 24 fan blades on the aircraft's CFM56 engine had fallen off near the central hub. He said there was evidence of metal fatigue near the area where the blade malfunctioned.

Sumwalt also said Southwest CEO Gary Kelly indicated the airline would immediately start enhanced inspections of the engines on its over 710 Boeing 737 aircraft.

Reuters reported that CFM56 engines had become a point of concern for regulators in the US and Europe. In March, European regulators made an announcement requiring inspections of the engines within nine months of April 2. US regulators were reportedly close to making a similar announcement.

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