The Japan Civil Aviation Bureau has ordered Nippon Cargo Airlines (NCA) to improve a number of its maintenance and record keeping practices, after discovering discrepancies in its records in June that led to the grounding of its fleet.
Parent company NYK Group says in a stock exchange disclosure that the "business improvement order" covers seven areas relating to its safety management systems, appropriate reporting for maintenance records, and appropriate maintenance to aircraft structures.
The disclosure also acknowledged that the carrier had deliberately falsified maintenance records, and that “inappropriate operations of aircraft maintenance” had occurred. It also admitted that it had delayed reporting the discovery to the transport ministry.
In a separate statement, NCA says that it has engaged a third-party company to evaluate the root causes of the failures and recommend measures to prevent it happening again. The results of that review will be reported to the transport ministry.
Two aircraft - a Boeing 747-8F registered JA18KZ and 747-400F JA05KZ – have re-entered service, but two 747-400Fs and seven 747-8Fs remain grounded.
“All aircraft currently operating have been confirmed to be airworthy and safe. The remainder of the fleet is undergoing the same inspection, and we will inform the schedule updates as soon as it is decided,” NCA adds.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
