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CAL grounds jet after finding fracture

China Airlines Ltd (中華航空, CAL), the nation's largest air carrier, announced yesterday it had grounded a passenger jet after workers at an airport in western Japan found a 77cm fracture in the fuselage of one of its planes.

The grounded aircraft is a Boeing 737-800, the same model as the aircraft that burst into flames after landing at Naha Airport in Okinawa, Japan, late last month.

CAL maintenance workers discovered the crack near the tail of the jet during a post-flight inspection on Thursday at Saga Airport on the western Japanese island of Shikoku, Transport Ministry official Rui Mitsuma said.

No anomalies were detected during the plane's flight from Taipei, Mitsuma said.

The plane had been scheduled to make a return trip to Taipei.

China Airlines spokesman Johnson Sun (孫鴻文) said: "We found the airplane needed some maintenance as mechanics did safety checks after the plane landed. We decided to ground the plane out of safety concerns."

"We have already sent a team to Japan for further examinations.

China Airlines arranged for another plane to take 51 of the 81 passengers on the original flight back to Taiwan, he said.
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