WASHINGTON (Nov. 13, 2018) — The National Transportation Safety Board is scheduled to hold an investigative hearing, that is open to the public, Wednesday, beginning at 9 a.m. (ET), in the NTSB’s Board Room and Conference Center.
The one-day investigative hearing is part of the agency’s ongoing investigation of the fatal, April 17, 2018, Boeing 737/CFM International fan-blade-out and depressurization accident on Southwest Airlines flight 1380.
The hearing will include 2 panels; CFM56-7B Fan Blades: Design and Certification, Consequences of the Fan Blade Out, Inspection Intervals and Procedures, and B737/CFM56-7B Inlet and Fan Cowl: Design and Certification, Structural Capability following a Fan Blade Out Event.
The agenda for the investigative hearing includes:
Opening Statement from the hearing chairman, National Transportation Safety Board Member
Bella Dinh-ZarrPanel one, CFM56-7B Fan Blades: Design and Certification, Consequences of the Fan Blade Out, Inspection Intervals and Procedures
Panel two, B737/CFM56-7B Inlet and Fan Cowl: Design and Certification, Structural Capability following a Fan Blade Out Event
Witnesses from Boeing, CFM, the Federal Aviation Administration, and Southwest Airlines are expected to provide testimony on the following topics during the first panel:
Design of CFM56-7B Fan Blade
Certification of CFM56-7B
Failure sequence of accident blade
Inspection Intervals and Procedures
Witnesses from Boeing, CFM, the Federal Aviation Administration, and United Technologies Aerospace Systems are expected to provide testimony on the following topics during the second panel:
Certification of the Inlet and Fan Cowl structure for an FBO event
Design, analysis and testing of the Inlet and Fan Cowl structure for an FBO event
Structural Capability of the Inlet and Fan Cowl structures following FBO
The full agenda, including a list of witnesses and parties participating in the investigative hearing is available at https://go.usa.gov/xPfBT.
The investigative hearing, which is open to the public, will be webcast and can be accessed at http://ntsb.windrosemedia.com/
The public docket for the investigative hearing is slated to be opened at 8:00 a.m. (EST) Wednesday and once opened can be accessed from the NTSB's website.
Media planning to cover the investigative hearing in person are asked to contact NTSB media relations at 202-314-6100 or keith.holloway@ntsb.gov and to be in place and set up not later than 8:30 a.m. (EST) on the day of the event.
NTSB previously issued an investigative update about the ongoing investigation.