FAA orders inspection of flaps on 767s

DALLAS Operators of Boeing 767 jetliners are being ordered toinspect the takeoff and landing flaps on about 200 of the airplanesbecause a chunk of a flap fell off last week, the Dallas Morning Newsreported Monday.

The Federal Aviation Administration was to send out the ordertoday as an emergency directive requiring inspections within 15 days,the newspaper said.

Boeing Co. officials have asked that its representatives bepresent when the National Transportation Safety Board conductslaboratory or other testing of the flaps and titanium bolts holdingthem in place, spokeswoman Debbie Nomaguchi said today.The FAA notice comes five days after a 21-foot section of a flapfell from the wing of a Delta Airlines jet that was preparing to landat Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. No one was injured.It does not mean that Boeing jets are unsafe, but "only requiresthat everybody take the proper precautions in a timely manner," saidFAA spokesman John Clabes.It is possible that the six titanium bolts that held one end ofthe 32-foot flap to the wing may not have been tightened properly.