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United Airlines to ground two dozen Boeing 777 planes in wake of engine failure

United Airlines is grounding 24 of its Boeing 777 aircraft after the Federal Aviation Administration indicated that it would mandate inspections and probably remove some of the jets from service.

The measures come one day after the engine of a Boeing 777-200 failed shortly after takeoff from Denver International Airport, scattering pieces of debris across a half-mile residential area outside Denver. The plane landed, and no injuries were reported on the ground or among the flight’s 231 passengers and 10 crew members.

In a statement Sunday evening, FAA Administrator Stephen Dickson said initial data indicated the need for more frequent maintenance of the Boeing 777 airplanes equipped with a type of engine called a Pratt & Whitney PW4000. Investigators appear to be focused on a potential malfunction of a part that is unique to these engines called a hollow fan blade.

The FAA said United is the only U.S. air carrier with this type of engine in its fleet. The regulator said Japan and South Korea are the only other countries with airlines that operate planes with the affected engines.

Japan ordered a halt to all flights of Boeing 777s equipped with the engine that failed Saturday over Denver as U.S. aviation regulators ordered emergency inspections of the model’s fan blades. Japan’s transport ministry on Sunday ordered ANA Holdings Inc. and Japan Airlines Co. to ground Boeing 777 planes they operate. ANA operates 19 planes and JAL 13 with similar engines.

The National Transportation Safety Board said Saturday it was investigating the causes of incident with the Boeing 777, which appeared to scatter dozens of pieces of debris across a residential area about a half-mile wide, badly damaging at least one home and one vehicle, local authorities said. No injuries were reported on the ground or among the flight’s 231 passengers and 10 crew members.

United Airlines, which operated the flight originally scheduled to land in Honolulu on Saturday, said a majority of the passengers were put on a new plane that landed safety in Hawaii that night. The company said it is working with federal investigators.

In an emailed statement, Boeing spokesman Bradley Akubuiro said the company is pleased that the airplane returned safely to Denver. “Boeing technical advisers are supporting the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board with its investigation,” he said.

The plane’s engine was manufactured by Pratt & Whitney, a subsidiary of Raytheon, a spokesman for the NTSB confirmed. Pratt & Whitney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Residents of Broomfield, a suburb of Denver, reported hearing a loud boom overhead, and a video posted to social media appeared to show the plane flying with its engine on fire. Authorities have not shared details on possible causes of the failure.

The incident comes amid Boeing’s effort to restore public confidence in its planes. In December, Boeing’s 737 Max jets flew commercial flights for the first time since two crashes of the planes in 2018 and 2019 killed 346 people.

The Max crashes eroded the flying public’s trust in Boeing, one of only two major companies that dominate commercial airplane production. Following the incidents, Boeing halted production of its flagship jet, fired its chief executive and agreed to pay more than $2.5 billion to resolve a criminal charge by the Justice Department that it conspired to defraud the Federal Aviation Administration during a review of the 737 Max.

The Boeing 777-200 is a larger jet that has been in use since the 1990s. According to Boeing data, the jets have experienced less than one major accident per million departures – one of the lowest accident rates of any major commercial jetliner. The plane is not equipped with MCAS, the software that investigators believe malfunctioned during the 737 Max crashes.

The NTSB typically coordinates accident investigations with the help of the plane manufacturer, local authorities, the airline and any parts manufacturers that may have information relevant to a safety problem. The agency began retrieving scattered debris and collecting it in an airplane hangar at Denver International Airport over the weekend.

In Broomfield, local authorities fielded hundreds of calls from residents who found pieces of debris, said Rachel Welte, the public information officer for the Broomfield Police Department. One plane part fell through the roof of a home, and another badly damaged a truck, she said.

Debris was discovered all over Commons Park, a large recreational area with soccer fields, she said. “Considering how large the debris field was, it’s absolutely remarkable” that no one was injured, Welte said.

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