NTSB issues urgent warning about engines on some Boeing and Airbus planes

Recommendations stem from 2023 incident in which Southwest flight filled with ‘acrid white smoke’

The National Transportation Safety Board has issued an “urgent safety recommendation” regarding engines used in some Airbus and Boeing passenger jets.

The recommendations concern the CFM International LEAP-1B engines used in Airbus A32neo and Boeing 737 Max narrow-body jets.

In a statement on Wednesday, the transit regulator warned that the engine’s load reduction device, a safety feature designed to reduce vibrations transmitted from a damaged engine to the main airframe, can impact the engine’s oil system.

“Such a condition can allow smoke from hot oil to enter the ventilation system and ultimately the cockpit or passenger cabin,” the NTSB warned.

“We are aligned with the NTSB’s recommendations and the work is already underway, in close partnership with our airframers, to enhance the capability of this important system,” a CFM spokesperson said in a statement to The Independent.

Following series of smoke incidents, transit regulator warned safety feature on commonly used aircraft engine can inadvertently fill planes with smoke (NTSB)

The board’s recommendation stemmed from a December 2023 incident, in which a Southwest flight on a Boeing 737-8 jet leaving New Orleans filled with smoke after its left engine ingested a bird.

“The flight deck filled with what the crew described as ‘acrid white smoke’ so thick that the captain had difficulty seeing the instrument panel,” the safety board wrote. “The crew donned masks, were able to clear the smoke, and landed the airplane back in New Orleans. None of the crew or passengers were injured.”

The Wednesday alert cited a similar incident featuring a Southwest flight departing Havana, Cuba, earlier that year.

The safety board has requested that the Federal Aviation Administration ensure operators inform flight crews about jets equipped with the affected engines.

Boeing has revised its flight manuals to prepare pilots to prevent smoke from entering the cockpit or cabin when the load reduction device is activated.

The safety board has also asked flight regulators in Europe and China to determine if other variants of the CFM LEAP engine are susceptible to the same issues, and has asked the FAA and the European Aviation Safety Agency to incorporate software modifications developed by CFM and Boeing.

One of the impacted jets is the Boeing 737 Max, the same plane that crashed twice between 2018 and 2019, killing 346 and causing a temporary grounding of the model until a flight sensor system could be redesigned.

In May, the Justice Department reached a deal with the aerospace giant to avoid criminal prosecution for allegedly misleading regulators about the Max.

The recommendations come at a time of heightened concern regarding the safety of the US air transit system, after a series of high-profile aviation disasters this year, including a mid-air collision above a Washington, D.C.-area airport, and a plane crash in Philadelphia, as well as air traffic control issues around major hubs like Newark.