Korean Air Co, South Korea’s largest air carrier, plans to conduct safety checks on its Boeing 737-900ER aircraft, industry sources said Wednesday.
The decision follows a recommendation by the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for operators to perform safety checks, Yonhap news agency reported.
The airline plans to conduct a special inspection to check whether the door plugs of its six 737-900ER units are properly secured. Korean Air is the only South Korean airline that operates the model in question.
The decision came after the FAA on Sunday advised operators of Boeing 737-900ER planes to inspect the door plugs after a Boeing 737 Max 9 unit carrying 177 passengers in the US made an emergency landing due to a cabin panel blowout earlier this month.
According to the FAA, the two models are equipped with the same type of door plug which has been linked to a Malaysian supplier.
A Korean Air official said the company has regularly conducted comprehensive safety inspections of its 737-900ER units, while adding that no safety-related issues were identified.
Earlier Indonesia’s Lion Air had also been instructed for its Boeing 737-900 planes to under go checks after reports were released on the planes problems.
Malaysia how has not released any statements on the matter with Malaysian Airlines and AirAsia two large airlines also having not issued comments of their fleet consists of any 737-900 aircrafts.
