(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-08-29 20:54

China's aviation administration has ordered for emergency checks on the wing slats of all Boeing 737 jets, said officials from the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC).

All domestic airlines are allowed 20 days starting from Tuesday to finish checks on all Boeing 737-600, -700, -800 and -900 series planes and were asked to repeat the inspection after every 3,000 landings, according to CAAC.

The requirements for checks on Boeing 737 jets are compulsory, the CAAC officials added.

They said there are nearly 300 such Boeing planes in China, which are subject to the required checks.

On August 20, a Boeing 737 plane of China Airlines from Taiwan burst into flames after landing at Naha airport of Southern Japan's Okinawa.

All 165 people aboard, including eight crew members, evacuated safely seconds before the plane exploded, however, the plane was almost completely destroyed by the fire.

Investigators in Japan found that the fire might have been caused by a loose bolt from a right wing slat that pierced the fuel tank of the Taiwan jetliner, which led to a fuel leak through the hole.

The US Federal Aviation Administration had ordered all the US-registered carriers to conduct wing inspections on Boeing planes on Tuesday.