The 1.5-meter-long gash that opened up in the upper cabin of Friday's Southwest Airlines Flight 812 from Phoenix to Sacramento will have a deep impact on the nature and frequency of commercial aircraft maintenance. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a directive on Tuesday ordering about 175 Boeing 737 aircraft--80 of which are registered in the U.S., most of those operated by Southwest--to be inspected using an electromagnetic device that can identify metal fatigue. [More]
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