TOKYO — A Hong Kong Airlines plane spent six hours on the tarmac in Tokyo on Wednesday evening (May 29) after two screws reportedly fell out of a wing.

The flight, which was expected to leave Japan at 4pm local time eventually took off for Hong Kong just after 10pm.

It was the seventh time in four days a Hong Kong Airlines flight between the two cities had arrived at its destination missing parts such as screws and light covers.

Passengers were forced to remain in the aircraft throughout the delay and staff provided food and drinks while they waited.

 “The [flight HX609] aircraft needed to be repaired as two screws fell off from a board under the wing,” a spokesman said.

“The flight was delayed until 10.03pm local time. We apologise for the inconvenience caused and have alerted the relevant authorities.”

Earlier, Japan’s aviation safety watchdog urged the carrier to take measures to ensure parts that fell off its planes posed no threat to people and property.

Spot inspections by Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, which oversees civil aviation, uncovered six instances between May 26 and May 28 in which at least one part of an HKA aircraft was missing, according to a report by NHK, the Japanese public broadcaster.

The NHK report identified some of the missing parts as aircraft light covers and screws.

In a statement on Wednesday, HKA said it had allowed planes to fly with missing parts as long as the missing items did not risk the safety of the aircraft.

The Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB), in response to the Post, said the missing parts were not critical to the airplane’s safety – despite alarm in Hong Kong over the incidents.

Even so, the Japanese aviation regulator said it was concerned about the issue.

“Japan has a quite [an] interest in parts dropping from aircraft,” said Mr Kosuke Najima, head of safety for foreign air carriers at the JCAB’s aviation safety and security department. He said the airline was required to introduce measures to ensure missing parts were no threat to people and property.

“In this case, we didn’t receive reports [about] damage to citizens or property, but it is important that Hong Kong Airlines develop measures to avoid any cases like this,” Mr Najima said.

The Japanese aviation regulator said missing parts were surprisingly common, and in the case of HKA, the missing items had not been found.

To avoid missing aircraft parts, the regulator said many airlines were ordered to conduct mandatory inspections of their aircraft. The carrier will not be punished for the missing parts, but has been ordered to address the problem.

“We will require an [analysis of the] root cause and that countermeasures be developed,” Mr Najima said.

Hong Kong Airlines said in a statement that all of its aircraft were “carefully inspected before each flight”. The airline was careful to point out that, in certain cases, planes were approved to fly even if parts were missing as long as their absence did not jeopardise the aircraft’s safety.

A Hong Kong Airlines spokeswoman said: “The aircraft concerned were inspected by our professional maintenance team before flight and found to have small items missing, such as screws and washers, which are within the allowable conditions for aircraft airworthiness because they do not pose any safety risk.”

She continued: “The subject aircraft was certified for release to service by a professional aircraft engineer according to the aircraft manufacturer manual.”

Mr Jeremy Tam Man-ho, a Hong Kong lawmaker and professional pilot, called on the Civil Aviation Department to investigate the Hong Kong Airlines case to determine whether what happened was a serious incident or not.

Hong Kong’s Civil Aviation Department (CAD) said it considered the missing parts a relatively minor incident, but it asked Hong Kong Airlines to submit a detailed report as soon as possible.

Maintenance inspections had been carried out on May 27 and 28, the CAD said, when the incidents in Japan were said to have occurred. The regulator concluded the airline had carried out maintenance work “in full accordance” with the CAD’s approval.

Hong Kong Airlines was already under intense scrutiny because of an ongoing boardroom battle over legal control of the company and financial problems.

A string of directors and top managers have left the airline, and its number of planes, flights and routes has diminished.

The airline last week offered voluntary redundancy to pilots in an effort to reduce the costs of its highest-paid employees. The pilots have until June 3 to decide on the company’s offer. SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST