China orders safety checks on 737s

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) issued an “Emergency Airworthiness Directive” on Monday for Boeing 737s, the National Business Daily reported.

It quoted an unidentified CAAC official saying the directive indicates a “potential safety hazard” in the tail flap and that airlines which do not follow the order will not be allowed to fly the aircraft.

The aviation regulator has ordered all domestic airlines to report the results of their inspections within 10 days, it said.

The Chinese order comes after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration issued a directive earlier this month urging immediate inspections of the “elevator tab control mechanism” on the tail flap of six models of Boeing 737s.

“The consequent structural failure ... could result in loss of aircraft control and structural integrity,” said the directive posted on the U.S. aviation regulator's Web site.

According to the FAA, Boeing has also issued an alert bulletin describing the problem and laying out procedures to detect and repair them.

News reports in the United States said the directive involved about 600 Boeing 737s.

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