China Airlines’ fire sparks aircraft checks
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It will involve 84 Boeing 737s in Australia and almost 4500 around the world. The checks will be focused on the wing slat assemblies of the aircraft as it is suspected that a bolt on the China Airlines passenger jet came loose and ruptured a fuel tank, starting the fire at Naha airport in Okinawa Japan said online news reports.
“All were really doing is looking into the area to make sure the bit of hardware is not loose or fallen out and therefore rubbing against the fuel tank, Peter Gibson from CASA was quoted as saying. A spokeswoman from Virgin Blue told the Courier Mail, that it has begun an inspection of all 53 of its Boeing 737s.
The FAA said in its Emergency Airworthiness Directive, “Loose or missing parts from the main slat track downstop assemblies, if not detected and corrected, could result in a fuel leak and consequent fire,”
The directive would include the most recent post-1995 generation of 737s of the -600-700, -700C, -800, -900 and -900ER series according to reports.
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