Qantas has discovered structural cracks in the pickle forks of three of its Boeing 737NGs after a problem was found with the first jet, which had registered just under 27,000 flight cycles, during earlier-than-scheduled heavy maintenance.
All three out of 33 jets which were subsequently inspected have now been grounded until essential repairs can be carried out. The likely cost is estimated to be around US$275,000 per aircraft and the jets should be back in service by the end of the year.
Australia’s flag-carrying airline has advised travelers that despite the three jets being out of commission, this will not affect normal services. Boeing alerted the FAA to the potential problem after cracks in pickle forks were discovered in a number of 737NG passenger jets which were being converted to freighters and which had completed well in excess of 30,000 flight cycles. As a consequence, the FAA issued a directive advising that all 737NG jets with more than 30,000 flight cycles should be inspected immediately, while those with between 22,600 and 30,000 flight cycles should be inspected over the coming months or as soon as they had reached the 30,000-flight mark.
Structural cracks have been found in 737NGs owned by Southwest Airlines Co, Brazil’s Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA, Korean Air Lines Co and Indonesia’s Sriwijaya Air. Boeing have been keen to point out that so far, only 5% of the over 1,000 737NGs in operation have been found to have structural cracks in them.
