A Korean Air Boeing 737 (Image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, April 19 (Korea Bizwire) – Korean Air Lines Co., South Korea’s national flag carrier, said Thursday it will examine all of its B737 planes that use the same engine as the one that failed on a Southwest Airlines flight, resulting in the death of a passenger.
The company plans to voluntarily examine most of 35 B737 jets by November, though not all of them use the problematic CFM56-7B turbofan engine, a company spokeswoman said over the phone.
The country’s biggest airline by sales operates 16 B737-900s, 13 B737-800s, and six B737-900ERs, which make up a quarter of its 138 passenger jet fleet, she said.
On April 17, a twin-engine Boeing 737 bound from New York to Dallas with 149 people aboard made an emergency landing after a mid-air explosion caused pieces of the port side engine to penetrate the hull of the passenger jet. Besides the death, several people on board were injured.
Asiana Airlines Inc., the country’s second full service carrier said it does not have any jet that uses the CFM56-7B engine.
(Yonhap)
