Japan's transport ministry ordered Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways to ground more than 30 aircraft equipped with Pratt and Whitney engines after a United Airlines plane with the same power plant caught fire after take-off from Denver over the weekend.
The airlines had already taken the planes out of service -- 13 operated by JAL and 19 by ANA -- before the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism issued the order Sunday.
A Pratt and Whitney PW4000 engine powering a Boeing 777-200 bound for Honolulu failed on take-off Saturday, scattering debris over a residential area near Denver. The plane was able to return to Denver airport and land safely.
The grounding of the 32 planes caused a cancellation of one JAL flight from Okinawa Prefecture's Naha to Tokyo's Haneda on Sunday. JAL and ANA said they are substituting other aircraft and there will be no flight cancellations from Monday onwards.
On Dec. 4, an engine on a JAL plane operating a Naha to Haneda service experienced trouble, forcing the aircraft to make an emergency landing. It was the same Pratt and Whitney engine and the ministry had since instructed JAL and ANA to inspect aircraft using the power plant more frequently than usual.
The ministry said it is investigating whether additional measures are required to ensure the safety of the engines.
JAL and the ministry concluded that the incident in December was caused by fan blade damage.
