Australian airline Qantas has stepped up checks on its fleet of Boeing 737 NG planes after cracks were found in a part that attaches the wing to the fuselage , known as the pickle fork . It said that so far the repair costs were not big enough to affect its bottom line. The Federal Aviation Administration recently ordered planes with 30,000 take - off and landing cycles to be checked , but Quantas found cracks in a plane with less than 27,000 cycles . The airline is reviewing 33 planes with over 22,600 cycles , while Boeing said it was investigating the possible causes and implications of cracks found in planes with fewer than 500 cycles .
Australian airline Qantas has stepped up checks on its fleet of Boeing 737 NG planes after cracks were found in a part that attaches the wing to the fuselage , known as the pickle fork . The Federal Aviation Administration recently ordered planes with 30,000 take - off and landing cycles to be checked , but Quantas found cracks in a plane with less than 27,000 cycles . The airline is reviewing 33 planes with over 22,600 cycles , while Boeing said it was investigating the possible causes and implications of cracks found in planes with fewer than 500 cycles .