Boeing aware of metal 'fragility' issues before aircraft part plunged into Shanghai factory

Aerospace giant Boeing has ordered airlines around the world to address a "fragility" problem after a section of landing gear from one of its 777 passenger jets broke off shortly after take-off from Shanghai last week and plummeted 3,700 metres into a city suburb.

Fortunately, no one was injured, but the incident has raised concerns of a possible repeat after the airline involved - which the Sunday Morning Post can reveal was Air France - and Boeing both acknowledged they had been aware of "issues" with the section of landing gear for some time. More than a thousand Boeing 777 aircraft are in service around the world - of which Cathay Pacific operates 69.

Flight 111 had just left Shanghai's Pudong airport for Paris when a sheet of metal weighing 60kg plunged down through a factory rooftop.

Air France has launched a fleet-wide inspection of 66 Boeing 777 jets delivered between 1998 and 2008, after the aircraft's US manufacturer and the airline said the "fragility" of the metal attached to the plane's landing gear known as the "drag strut door" was known to them.

It remains unclear how the problem will be "addressed".

Aviation expert David Learmount, of Flight Global, said: "Air France is aware of it, Boeing is aware of it. Boeing is probably looking for some kind of fix, then it looks at it and says a fix will be so costly we'll have to charge the fix to the airlines as well. Actually, having the odd failure - since the failures are so few - does that justify the expense of making a modification which itself might have its problems?"