Southwest Engine Fan Blade Broke off Mid-Flight Last Month
- Metal shards exploded out of engine, pierced cabin: NTSB
- Investigators find crack ‘consistent’ with metal fatigue
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A fan blade on a jet engine snapped off a Southwest Airlines Co. plane last month in a violent failure that sent debris slamming into the plane, according to a preliminary investigative report released Monday.
Investigators with the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board found evidence of a crack “consistent” with metal fatigue in the titanium-alloy blade, it said in a statement released on the agency’s website.