Failure in wing flap component led to China Airlines blaze
Japanese investigators examining the wreckage of a China Airlines passenger plane yesterday found a hole in the aircraft's fuel tank that could have been the cause of the explosion of the Boeing 737-800 at Naha Airport in Okinawa on Monday.
The hole, measuring 20-30mm in diameter, was apparently caused by a bolt from the right wing piercing the fuel tank, resulting in the massive leak that Taiwanese and Japanese media said was like a waterfall.
All 165 people on the plane managed to escape seconds before it burst into flames and broke into three sections.
Aviation experts from Japan, Taiwan and US had suspected the leak was caused by a cracked pipe connecting the engine to the wing.
But the latest finding by Japan's Aircraft and Railway Accidents Investigation Commission is that a bolt installed on a unit to move a flap on the front edge of the plane's right wing came loose and pierced the tank.