Southwest Airlines grounds two Boeing planes with cracked critical part

Boeing's problems continue to mount as a carrier has grounded two jets due to structural problems.

Southwest Airlines confirmed Tuesday that two of their Boeing 737 NG planes have been grounded because of cracked critical equipment, according to KOMO News.

KOMO was first to report that inspectors found cracks in a critical part of an 737 NG known as the pickle fork.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
BA	THE BOEING CO.	150.93	+3.75	+2.55%
LUV	SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO.	31.25	-0.12	-0.37%

Last week, the FAA ordered emergency inspections, known as an "airworthiness directive," or "AD," to take place within seven days.

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A pickle fork is the part that helps attach a plane's fuselage to the wing.

Engineers design pickle forks to last the lifetime of the plane, more than 90,000 landings and takeoffs.

There could be dire results if the pickle fork system on the jet fails in flight.

These latest groundings for the Southwest 737 NGs come as the airline struggles with a grounded 737 MAX fleet.

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Those groundings have led to the cancellations of an estimated 30,000 Southwest flights since March.