Today, the Federal Aviation Administration announced it's requiring inspections on all 737 airliners. The move was prompted by a series of airline incidents and crashes, most notably, the China Airlines fire last week in Japan. The inspections are on all 783 U.S. airplanes and hopefully will be applied to all 737 worldwide.

The FAA's emergency airworthiness directive, issued Saturday, applies to all 737-600, -700, -800, -900 and -900ER series planes, the first of which entered service in January 1998 with Southwest Airlines, which flies only 737s. In the United States, the planes also are used by Alaska, American, Continental, Delta and other carriers.

Slats slide out the front edge of the main wings during takeoff and landing to stabilize the aircraft, along with flaps that come out of the wings' rear edge.

Last Thursday, investigators in Japan found that a bolt from a right wing slat had pierced the fuel tank of the Taiwanese jetliner that caught fire after landing on the Japanese resort island of Okinawa. All 165 people aboard evacuated safely seconds before the plane exploded.

A fuel leak through that hole likely caused the fire on the China Airlines Boeing 737-800, said Kazushige Daiki, chief investigator at Japan's Aircraft and Railway Accidents Investigation Commission.

The FAA ordered a detailed inspection within 24 days to be sure that the downstop assembly, which limits how far the slats can emerge from the wing, is installed properly and repaired if needed. It also ordered that the nut and bolt that hold the assembly in place be tightened to specifications. And it ordered this process be repeated at least every 3,000 takeoff and landing cycles.

The FAA estimated the total cost for the U.S. fleet at $62,640.

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