11:20am UPDATE: Southwest Airlines grounded 41 planes overnight in the wake of its recent admission that it had missed required inspections of some planes for structural cracks, The Associated Press is reporting.

The move announced today comes as Southwest faces a $10.2 million civil penalty for continuing to fly nearly 50 planes after the airline told regulators that it had missed required inspections of the planes, the AP reported.

The Federal Aviation Administration said today that Southwest Airlines has grounded as many as 42 of its Boeing jets for possible structural damage, the Dallas Morning News is reporting.

The airline told the FAA about the decision to ground the planes earlier today, FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown told the Morning News, but a Southwest Airlines spokeswoman declined to confirm the FAA report.

Southwest Airlines is facing regulatory and congressional investigations into its decision last year to keep flying 46 jets that required safety inspections for fuselage damage, according to the Morning News.

As of Dec. 31, 2007, Southwest was flying 520 Boeing 737 jets, including 194 of the older Boeing 737-300s that have been the target of stepped-up fuselage inspections, the Morning News reported.

Three Southwest Airlines were placed on leave Tuesday in connection with an internal investigation into the safety lapses, the paper said. 

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