The head of the Federal Aviation Administration said on Sunday that he was requiring “immediate or stepped-up inspections” of all Boeing 777 planes equipped with a particular Pratt & Whitney engine model one day after the jet suffered a dramatic engine failure over Colorado.
That episode, involving a United Airlines flight on Saturday, resulted in no reported injuries, but the plane shed debris across three neighborhoods before landing safely in Denver.
The announcement came shortly after the aviation authority in Japan ordered airlines there to stop flying the plane. Both the Japanese and American orders apply to Boeing 777s equipped with Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines.
“We reviewed all available safety data following yesterday’s incident,” the F.A.A. administrator, Steve Dickson, said in a statement. “Based on the initial information, we concluded that the inspection interval should be stepped up for the hollow fan blades that are unique to this model of engine, used solely on Boeing 777 airplanes.”
Mr. Dickson said the F.A.A. was working with its counterparts around the world and said that its safety experts were meeting “into the evening” with Pratt & Whitney and Boeing to complete details of the required inspections. United Airlines is the only American carrier using planes affected by the F.A.A. order, according to the agency. Only airlines in the United States, Japan and South Korea operate Boeing 777s with the affected Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engine model, according to the agency.
