Inspections ordered on hundreds of 737 jets

Federal regulators have ordered inspections for hundreds of older Boeing 737 jetliners after numerous reports of fuel leaks caused by a potentially faulty bolt.

In August, a fire destroyed a China Airlines 737 when a bolt from a right wing slat pierced a fuel tank. All 165 people aboard evacuated safely before the plane exploded on the tarmac in Naha on the Japanese island of Okinawa.

The Federal Aviation Administration later that month ordered inspections of similar newer model 737s, but expanded the order to older models because of their design similarities, agency spokesman Les Dorr said Tuesday.

“Boeing notified us of numerous reports of fuel leaks from older models, but no fires,” Dorr said.

The order affects 652 aircraft in the U.S. and a total of more than 3,500 worldwide. U.S. carriers must get the planes inspected within 90 days of the FAA order’s effective date of April 8, Dorr said.

The safety inspections are to detect and fix a bolt that can fall off and puncture the fuel tanks.

Carriers affected by the order include Delta Air Lines Inc., Continental Airlines Inc., Southwest Airlines Co., UAL Corp.’s United Airlines and others.

A Boeing spokeswoman said the FAA order followed action taken by the company and carriers “to ensure continued operational safety of the 737 fleet.”

Air Transport Assn. members “already have begun performing the inspections . . . [and] expect no impact on service,” said David Castelveter, a spokesman for the trade group.

The FAA’s latest action is not related to a Southwest probe that showed it continuing to fly nearly 50 Boeing 737s that hadn’t been inspected for cracks in their fuselages, Dorr said. Southwest is facing a $10.2-million fine in that case, the largest civil penalty the FAA has ever proposed against a carrier. The carrier said it would appeal.

In a separate directive that affects about 5,000 general aviation aircraft in the U.S. and an additional 1,000 planes worldwide, the FAA has ordered immediate inspections of all the small planes after reports that a faulty gasket can cause loss of engine power.

The FAA directive applies to propeller-driven aircraft that used certain gaskets shipped by Precision Airmotive after August 2006. The Marysville, Wash.-based company this month has issued and revised its own safety bulletins about the gaskets on its website.

The FAA has received 18 reports of faulty gaskets, including one accident in January in which a pilot in Mississippi lost partial engine power.

The pilot was the plane’s only occupant and was not injured, Dorr said.