The US Federal Aviation Administration issued an emergency directive Monday for owners of Boeing 737s to inspect key wing hardware after fire destroyed a Taiwanese aircraft upon landing in Japan August 19. The US air industry regulator gave owners and operators of six series of the Boeing 737 24 days to inspect the wing slat assemblies of the aircraft due to suspicions that a bolt on the China Airlines passenger jet came loose and ruptured a fuel tank, starting the fire at Naha airport on the Japanese island of Okinawa. All 165 passengers and crew escaped to safety, sliding down emergency chutes with just moments to spare as the Boeing 737-800 exploded in flames. Besides the China Airlines case, the FAA said it had received reports of a loosened nut inside the housing of the retractable slats on the wing's leading edge puncturing the housing resulting in a fuel leak. "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 FAA said in its Emergency Airworthiness Directive. The directive would affect the most recent post-1995 generation of 737s of the -600, -700, -700C, -800, -900 and -900ER series. There are some 4,495 737s currently in service around the world. http://rawstory.com/news/afp/US_orders_emergency_checks_of_Boein_08272007.html I've been saying and saying and saying that these fucking planes are death traps.
Seems like they are doing pretty well to me. Maybe they will find something wrong with all of them, probably won't. It's worth looking though.
