United Airlines cancelled about 18 flights this week and removed 52 Boeing 777-200s from service as it failed to perform required inspections on the wing leading-edge panels. The issue was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
The aircraft were originally grounded last year after a Pratt and Whitney engine on a United 777-200 on a flight to Honolulu suffered failure causing debris to disperse over nearby cities. The aircraft made an emergency landing without any injures.
Reuters reports that United had inspected 10 of the planes and was working with the FAA to return the others to fly in the next two weeks without causing additional flight cancellations.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the airline had disclosed the issue to the agency after an internal audit and proposed a plan to complete the inspections. FAA is currently reviewing United's inspection plan and looking into the circumstances that led to the missed inspections.
In May 2022, the FAA cleared United's 52 Boeing 777 planes equipped with Pratt & Whitney (PW) 4000 engines to return to service.
United said that the wing leading-edge panel inspections of some of those 777-200s are not related to engines or recent engine work and the inspections in most cases can be completed overnight.