Wing fracture discovered on China Airlines plane

Airport workers at Saga Airport on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu made a disturbing discovery during a routine check on a China Airlines-owned Boeing 737-800. A fracture measuring 28 inches in length was found in the fuselage, weeks after a similar aircraft owned by the same airline exploded into a ball of flames at another Japanese airport in Okinawa.

The crack was found at the rear end of the plane near the tail during post-flight inspections by China Airlines workers, with the plane scheduled to take off again half an hour later for Taipei, the capital city of Taiwan where the ill-fated fireball plane took off from a few short weeks ago.

Another plane was sent to pick up the passengers, who eventually arrived at their destination five hours behind schedule. Rui Mitsuma, official for the Japanese Transport Ministry said an investigation would be launched to determine how the crack in the fuselage formed.

www.china-airlines.com