150 Boeing B737NGs Inspected
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on Nov. 25 that it has finished a total inspection of the 150 Boeing B737NGs that are currently in operation in South Korea.
Last month, the Federal Aviation Administration of the United States issued an airworthiness directive, saying that pickle fork cracks were found in some of the planes. The ministry started the inspection right away, checked 100 planes until Nov. 10 to find such cracks in 13, and grounded the 13 planes before finishing the inspection on Nov. 25.
“Pickle fork cracks were not found in the 50 planes,” the ministry explained, adding, “We checked each of the 150 planes with regard to not only pickle forks but also parts around the fuselage-wing joints.” When it comes to the 13 grounded planes, two have been repaired and put back into operation on Nov. 19 and 22. The others are scheduled to be repaired by January next year.