An Air China passenger on flight CA1921 from Beijing to Hengyang recorded a video of the wing screwing up and posted it on the Chinese social media platform Weibo. The post went viral, following which the airline issued a statement. Air China said it has fixed loose wing screws on one of its Boeing 737-NG passenger aircraft. “Air China attaches great importance to the loose screw in the inboard canoe fairing of the left flap of Air China Flight CA1921 shared on the Internet, and promptly inspects the relevant parts of the aircraft, repairs the loose screw, and conducts a fleet check , the statement said, as noted by the South China Morning Post.
A video clip of the problematic fairing during flight was widely shared online and the topic went viral. According to aviation experts, the part where the screw was mounted is primarily used to regulate air flow, thereby helping to reduce drag and save fuel. The screw is mounted in the inboard canoe fairing of the aircraft and is used to fix the flap track fairing tail cone, which is a part of the inboard canoe fairing.
“According to personal maintenance experience, there are two reasons for this problem,” Qiu Qing, an aviation blogger with over 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 prolonged vibration in this position.”
However, the airline did not provide an official explanation as to why the screw was loose or whether it could affect flight safety. According to the Boeing 737-NG’s Configuration Deviation List (CDL), it is acceptable to fly without a two-flap track fairing tail cone.
Although considered safe, the Chinese aviation industry has seen a few plane crashes in the past few months, one of which was the unfortunate accident involving a China Eastern Airlines plane that crashed in China’s southern Guangxi province in March.