FAA Urges Quicker Crack Checks on Boeing 737 Planes
Published Date: 7/24/2025
Proposed Rule
Summary
The FAA is updating safety rules for certain Boeing 737-700 planes to catch cracks in the airplane’s skin faster and keep everyone safer. If you own or work with these planes, you’ll need to do inspections more often and follow new checks if you’ve made certain fixes. These changes aim to prevent problems before they happen, with deadlines coming sooner and possibly some extra costs for inspections.
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 3 costs, 0 mixed.
More Frequent Inspections for 737-700
If you own or operate certain Boeing Model 737-700 and -700C airplanes covered by AD 2013-08-16, you must keep doing the required skin-crack inspections but at reduced compliance times. That means inspections must be done sooner and more often to detect cracks in chem-mill areas of the fuselage skin.
Required Post-Modification Inspections
If you perform an optional modification on these 737-700/-700C airplanes, the proposed AD would require post-modification inspections. That adds an extra required inspection step tied specifically to when that optional modification has been accomplished.
Earlier Deadlines and Possible Extra Costs
The FAA proposes moving some inspection deadlines sooner under the AD, and the rule notes there may be additional inspection costs for owners and operators of the affected airplanes. You could face earlier compliance dates and extra expenses for inspections and any necessary repairs.
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