The Japan Transport Safety Board plans to issue a safety recommendation to the U.S. aviation administration over a Boeing aircraft explosion in Okinawa in 2007, saying the manufacturer failed to warn airlines about preventing the maintenance error that caused the accident, sources said Monday.
A similar recommendation is planned for the Taiwan aviation administration because Japan's safety board believes China Air also did not formulate sufficient maintenance instruction manuals to prevent errors, the sources said.
In its final report on the accident to be released as early as this week, the board will say the explosion of the China Air jetliner at Naha airport was caused by a bolt that detached from an assembly on the right wing and pierced a fuel tank, causing fuel to gush through the hole and catch fire.
The board has also concluded the Taiwanese carrier failed to put a washer on the bolt during maintenance a month before the accident, while Boeing failed to notify airlines of the dangers of forgetting the washers.
The board will ask the U.S. Federal Aviation Agency to provide Boeing with proper guidance.
The 737-800 also had a design flaw that causes bolts to fall out easily, but Boeing has already modified it.
The China Air plane burst into flames Aug. 20, 2007, after arriving at the gate at Naha. All 157 passengers and eight crew members evacuated safely moments before the inferno.