Loose Wing Screw Of Air China Boeing 737 Flight Not A Safety Risk

Air China said it had repaired loose wing screws on one of its passenger planes after a video displaying the faulty fairing in flight was widely posted online, Nick Yang reported for the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

Photo Insert: These screws are used to secure the tail cones of the flap track, which are part of the inboard canoe fairing.

A passenger on Air China flight CA1921 from Beijing to Hengyang on Thursday discovered a loose wing screw on the Boeing 737-NG. He recorded a video and shared it on the Chinese social media platform Weibo. Soon after, the story went viral, leading the airline to issue a late-night statement. “Air China attached great importance to the loose screws in the inboard canoe fairing of the left flap of Air China flight CA1921 shared on the internet, and immediately inspected the relevant parts of the aircraft, repaired the loose screws, and checked the relevant fleet,” the statement read.

The area where the screw was located in the aircraft's inboard canoe fairing is primarily utilized to manage airflow in order to reduce drag and conserve fuel.

These screws are used to secure the tail cones of the flap track, which are part of the inboard canoe fairing. There was no official explanation for why the screw was loose or whether a loose screw may compromise flight safety.

“According to personal maintenance experience, there are two reasons for this problem,” Qiu Qing, an aviation blogger with more than 300,000 followers, posted on Weibo.

“One possibility is that the supporting target in the fairing was broken; another possibility is that the screws were loose due to long-term vibration at this position.”

It is acceptable to take off without up to two flap track fairing tail cones, according to the configuration deviation list (CDL) of the Boeing 737-NG. “It has no impact on safety if one or two screws on the fairing were loose. At the very least, even if there is no fairing, this will not affect safety,” Chen Jianguo, a veteran pilot, told Beijing Youth Daily.

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