FILE PHOTO: United Airlines flight UA328, carrying 231 passengers and 10 crew on board, returns to Denver International Airport with its starboard engine on fire after it called a Mayday alert, over Denver, Colorado, U.S. February 20, 2021. Hayden Smith/@speedbird5280/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea has ordered its airlines to inspect Boeing 777 jets with Pratt & Whitney PW4000 type engines, the transport ministry said on Tuesday.
The order follows damage to a fan blade on the same type of engine that failed on a United Airlines Boeing 777 flight on the weekend.
The chairman of the U.S. air accident investigator has described that damage as consistent with metal fatigue, going by a preliminary assessment.
Korean Air, Asiana Airlines and budget carrier Jin Air have 16, nine and four of these planes respectively, the ministry said in a statement. The airlines have grounded aircraft they had in operation.
Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Clarence Fernandez
Source: Reuters