Nippon Cargo Airlines extends suspension of flights

Nippon Cargo Airlines (NCA) has extended the suspension of its flights for more than another week as the process of checking maintenance records takes longer than expected.

In a customer update, the airline said that it could not re-start operations until it had concluded the record checking process, which was initially expected to take around a week from last Saturday.

However, in an update, NCA said: “The first aircraft will resume operation in more than another week. The rest of the aircraft operation will resume in sequence as soon as the aircraft safety is confirmed.

“We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and worries that we caused our customers. We will do our utmost effort to check safety for resuming operation as quickly as possible.”

Last Friday, The all-cargo aircraft operator said that an “inappropriate maintenance record” concerning the lubricating oil supply to the aircraft parts for one of its Boeing 747-8 freighters (JA 14KZ) had been found.

Local reports say government inspectors had identified the “inappropriate maintenance record” during an investigation into the airline’s records after it had been found to be negligent in reporting damage to aircraft.

The government inspection started after damage to aircraft was incorrectly reported by the airline.

In January, a bird strike, which left a 25cm dent on one of its freighters, was reported as a minor repair instead of a major repair “by mistake”.

Another dent that was found in March during pre-departure maintenance was also incorrectly dealt with.

NCA said that the investigation had been launched on May 22.

“We are fully co-operating with the investigation and remain committed to improved implementation of safe operating procedures,” the airline said at the time.

The airline operates a total of 11 freighter aircraft – three B747-400Fs and eight B747-8Fs.

In May, the Narita headquartered airline carried out a total of 653 flights, with services mainly operating to the US, Europe, and Asia.

Destinations include; Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Anchorage, Amsterdam, Milan, Luxembourg, Frankfurt-Hahn, Osaka, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok and Taipei.

(Air Cargo News)