Japan's transport ministry has ordered the grounding of all Boeing 777-200s in the country following the dramatic jet engine failure on a United Airlines flight above Colorado over the weekend.
According to Japanese broadcaster NHK, the ministry issued the order to All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines, which have fleets of 19 and 13 of the 777-200 jets respectively.
Both airlines said there will be no interruption to their schedules as they have plenty of aircraft which aren't being used due to COVID-19.
On Saturday, United Flight 328 was travelling from Denver, Colorado to Honolulu, Hawaii when its engine erupted into flames, littering debris over several neighbourhoods.
The transport ministry had also instructed domestic carriers to increase the frequency of inspections on Boeing 777s after engine damage caused a Japan Airlines jet to make an emergency landing in Okinawa in December.
