Previous 737 groundings 1989
Just recalled this from 1989 - 30 years ago...
Most of the world's 46 new Boeing 737-400 jetliners have been grounded in recent days after an engine type that has become increasingly suspect failed twice in the last week.
The airplanes affected are the 28 foreign 737-400's that are powered by that engine and 5 more planes, all flown by Piedmont Airlines, which use a similar engine.
The groundings followed an advisory, issued by Boeing on Tuesday, that urged airlines not to fly the planes until engine parts were replaced and power output was restricted. A Boeing 737-400 using the same engine crashed in Britain in January, killing 47 people a British Midland Airways 737-400 G-OBME
The Boeing advisory was followed by an emergency airworthiness directive issued yesterday by the Federal Aviation Administration. That directive officially grounded the Piedmont planes, which, having already been taken out of service and repaired, according to the Boeing advisory, were expected to resume flying today.
The engines involved are the CFM56-3C in the foreign planes and the CFM56-3B in the Piedmont planes.
In its emergency order, the F.A.A. warned that without the modifications the engine's fan blades might fracture, causing ''a complete loss of engine power.'' Engines that had failed on British 737-400's this past week showed signs of such fractures. In the Air Europe, BMA, Dan Air and Air UK Leisure fleets.
The most recent problems with the engine developed last Friday, when a Dan Air 737-400 carrying 100 passengers from London to Menorca returned to London after developing severe vibration in one engine. On Sunday, a Boeing 737-400 flown by British Midland Airways also had to return to London after developing engine trouble.
Piedmont Airlines, whose parent company is USAir Inc., is the sole operator of the 737-400 in this country. Although the Piedmont planes are powered by a different model engine, they had been flown at the higher power levels while being tested by Boeing and therefore fell under the F.A.A.'s emergency order.