Malaysia Airlines (MAS) is conducting preliminary inspections of some of its Boeing 737 aircraft, following a service bulletin issued by Boeing after the Southwest Airlines 737 decompression incident on 1 April.

MAS, which operates 37 737-400s, says "several" of the aircraft require the inspections specified by Boeing. In its service bulletin, Boeing called for inspections of 737 Classic aircraft with line numbers 2553 and 3132 inclusive, with 30,000 cycles and above.

"At Malaysia Airlines, currently several of our 737s fall into this category of which a few of the aircraft require inspection by April," says MAS' executive VP for engineering and maintenance Roslan Ismail.

"At this point in time, we are still at a preliminary inspection stage and will only be able to provide more information after we complete the inspections," he adds.

MAS' 737s undergo a supplementary check every 40 days, followed by more detailed checks, says Roslan.

These checks are conducted first at intervals of 550 hours, then at intervals of 4,400 flying hours, followed by more checks and overhaul at 17,600 and 24,000 flying hours, he adds.

Source: Air Transport Intelligence news