Mandatory Inspections After Jet Nacelle Falls Off Of Wing

South Africa grounded all Boeing 737-200s for inspection, after an engine fell of a jet belonging to Nationwide Airlines, according to the country's aviation authority.

Phindi Gwebu, a spokeswoman for the Johannesburg- based Civil Aviation Authority, said Boeing planes at Nationwide Airlines have been grounded and those belonging to other carriers will be grounded in two days. The engine fell off the plane with 106 passengers during takeoff in Cape Town on November 7, leading to the decision to ground the Boeing model. Nationwide's competitors have been instructed to carry out visual inspections immediately and full inspections will take place on Nov. 12 to avoid excessive disruption of flight schedules, the authority said.

These 737s have engines made by Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp., according to aviation authority.

Nationwide reported on Nov. 8, the engine on one of its Boeing 737 aircraft ``ingested' an object before falling from the wing on departure from Cape Town International Airport. The plane continued its takeoff and made an emergency landing at the airport, Johannesburg-based Nationwide said on its Web site. The runway was closed for an hour, causing delays.

"The directive was issued as a precautionary measure,' Gwebu said in an interview. There are about 31 of the aircraft in South Africa, she said.

The aviation directive also affects Boeing's DC9 series of planes, the aviation authority said. The engines were described as Pratt & Whitney JT8D series.

Nationwide has a fleet of 17 planes, of those, 11 are affected by the grounding order. The airline, founded in 1991, flies domestic routes in South Africa and operates a service to London's Gatwick airport.

Comair Ltd., owned in part by British Airways Plc, has a fleet of 15 planes, of which 10 are 737-200s. Its discount flight unit Kulula.com operates four aircraft from the Boeing MD80 series. 1time Holdings Ltd., which competes with Kulula and Nationwide for low-cost fares, has 10 aircraft, of which six are MD80s and four are DC9s.

Chicago-based Boeing said on Nov. 8 that it's ready to assist in any probe. "Boeing is working with the South African investigating authority to determine the cause of this incident. Boeing stands ready to support Nationwide and help get their airplanes back into service," Boeing spokesman Peter Conte said in an e-mailed statement, according to a Bloomberg story.

"An object, which is yet to be defined, was ingested into the engine, which caused a catastrophic engine failure,' Nationwide said then. "The engine-to-wing supporting structure is designed to release the engine when extreme forces are applied to prevent any structural damage."

The engine, which had undergone an overhaul, was fitted on the plane in March, 2005, and has since flown 3,806 hours. The engines "typically" fly for 10,000 hours between overhauls, Nationwide said.

The 737-200 first flew in 1968, according to Boeing's Web site. More than 6,000 of all models of 737s were sold by December 2005.

FMI: www.flynationwide.co.za/