Air France plane has 30 wing screws missing, Chinese mechanics being blamed
November 25th, 2011 - 9:07 pm ICT by Aishwarya BhattBoston, Nov 25 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Mechanics in China are being blamed after 30 screws on the wing of an Air France plane were found missing. Before the discovery, the plane had traveled for about five days around the globe.
Air France officials say the Airbus A340 plane was flown to China where maintenance works were carried out. From there, the flight was then moved to the French capital of Paris and then the United States before the problem was spotted by engineers. The plane which landed at the Boston International Airport has been grounded as inspection continues.
A spokesperson of Air France’s technical team said that, “’The plane flew for several days before it was grounded because one third of the screws holding down a piece of bodywork were missing. It was part of the outer covering of the wing and at no point was flight safety compromised.”
AFP first reported the incident after the media outlet chanced on an internal memo containing the error.
Most airlines go to China for their maintenance because it is cheaper to do it there. Chinese maintenance crews are often accused of being incompetent. In 2010, a Boeing 747 plane had to be grounded after maintenance in China because the maintenance guys painted the airliner with flammable paint.
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Tags: air france, airbus a340, airliner, airlines, boeing, boeing 747, boston international, china, discovery, flight safety, french capital, globe air, internal memo, maintenance crews, maintenance works, mechanics, paint, paris, spokesperson, wing screws