Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has performed a pickle fork replacement for a Boeing 737-800 Aircraft.

As part of a routine C-Check for the aircraft, conducted at BEDEK MRO facility, An AD mandated inspection was performed to detect cracks in the pickle fork frame fittings, which extend from the main deck to the aircraft landing gear bay.

The news came seven months after the IAI initially advised customers not to fly some Boeing 737 freighters it had converted pending a review of a fix that it had submitted for certification by the Civil Aviation Authority of Israel.

The aerospace firm had found an “apparent irregularity” in the production process of some of the total 47 converted 737s delivered to customers worldwide, according to a Reuters reported at the time.

The pickle fork issue first came to attention when the US Federal Aviation Administration published an airworthiness directive in October 2019 requiring that Boeing 737NGs, which have completed 30,000 flight cycles, be re-inspected on pickle forks. This happened after the agency was notified of structural cracks. Boeing originally discovered cracks on pickle fork hardware of 737-800s undergoing passenger-to-freighter conversions in China.

Under that directive, carriers had to inspect 737NGs that have completed 22,600 flight cycles within their next 1,000 flight cycles within the next 60 days. The order impacted US-registered 737NGs, including -600, -700, -800 and -900 series aircraft.

IBA said that it could cost up to $250,000 per aircraft to fix the pickle forks affecting Boeing 737NG variants -600, 700, 800, 900 and 900ER aircraft.

FAA ordered inspections on the pickle fork issues in October

Airlines impacted include QantasSouthwest Airlines, Gol and Indonesian carriers Sriwijaya Air and Garuda. While in late 2019 Korean regulators grounded 737NGS due to pickle fork issues.