IF iDir.com

Southwest Airlines Co clashed with engine maker CFM over the timing of proposed inspections and with regulators over costs after a 2016 accident involving the airline that was caused by a fan blade separating, public documents showed. The documents, which are on a U.S. federal website and were viewed by Reuters, reveal the wrangling over previously proposed safety checks on CFM engines that are now the focus of investigations following a fatal engine explosion this week.

Thu, 19 Apr 2018 02:36:33 -0400

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said on Wednesday it would order inspection of some 220 jet engines after investigators said a broken fan blade touched off an engine explosion on a Southwest Airlines flight, shattering a window and killing a passenger. The order, called an air-worthiness directive, would require an ultrasonic inspection within the next six months of the fan blades on all CFM56-7B engines that have accrued a certain number of takeoffs. The CFM56 engine on Southwest flight 1380 blew apart over Pennsylvania on Tuesday, about 20 minutes after the Dallas-bound flight left New York's LaGuardia Airport with 149 people on board.

Thu, 19 Apr 2018 00:55:20 -0400

(Reuters) - A federal judge on Wednesday found Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach in contempt of court for disobeying her order not to enforce the state's disputed proof-of-citizenship voter registration law while the court weighed its legality. Kobach is the front-running Republican candidate for Kansas governor, despite ongoing legal battles over the voter registration law he has sought to enforce as the state's top election official. Wednesday's ruling was the latest in a series of rebukes of Kobach by Judge Julie Robinson of Kansas City.

Wed, 18 Apr 2018 23:03:47 -0400

A power line failure in southern Puerto Rico cut electricity to almost all 3.4 million residents on Wednesday, the latest in a string of operational and political headaches for the U.S. territory's bankrupt, storm-ravaged power utility. In a statement, the Puerto Rican Electric Power Authority, known as PREPA, said "technical personnel" were working to determine a cause and expected to restore service in 24 to 36 hours. Puerto Rico's smaller islands of Culebra and Vieques, as well as a pair of microgrids on the main island, were unaffected.

Wed, 18 Apr 2018 21:45:49 -0400

By Ian Simpson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. gymnastics needs more reforms to wipe out sexual abuse after a scandal involving an ex-team doctor convicted of molesting female athletes, former Olympic athletes told a Senate panel on Wednesday. Olympic gymnastics gold medalist Jordyn Wieber told lawmakers evaluating the impact of reform legislation that only a housecleaning of staff at USA Gymnastics, the sport’s national governing body, could guarantee that a culture of abuse was eradicated.

Wed, 18 Apr 2018 21:17:14 -0400