Nippon Cargo Airlines (NCA) said that its first aircraft would resume operations between Japan and China following an investigation into the maintenance records of its fleet of Boeing 747-8Fs.
The entire NCA fleet was grounded on June 17 after discrepancies in the maintenance logs for one of its eight B747-8F aircraft were uncovered during a routine inspection. The inspection showed a mismatch between the amount of lubricating oil present onboard flight JA14KZ and that recorded in the aircraft's maintenance logs.
NCA had anticipated that the suspension would last at least one week. However, the carrier extended the suspension of flights as the verification of maintenance records reportedly lasted longer than originally expected.
NCA said on July 4 that the investigation of the first aircraft (JA18KZ) was almost complete and the aircraft would resume operation on July 5.
The rest of the fleet will return to service in sequence, once each aircraft’s airworthiness is confirmed, according to NCA.
