The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has ordered airlines to inspect wing slats on all newer Boeing 737 aircraft.

The directive came after investigators said a loose part caused a fuel leak and subsequent fire that destroyed a China Airlines 737-800 jet from Taiwan last week in Japan.

CAAC requires airlines to complete detailed inspections on all Boeing 737-600, 700, 800 and 900 aircraft within 20 days, following the announcement of the decision Tuesday evening.

The move does not apply to other types of Boeing aircraft.

CAAC requires the inspections be repeated every 3,000 flights.

An official with CAAC said that nearly 300 planes in China would be checked.

According to news reports, nearly 2,300 planes worldwide would have to be checked.

"We will check to make sure all our planes are in good condition," Wang Yongsheng, an Air China spokesman, said.

An insider said that the mandatory inspection would not affect normal flight operations.

The China Airlines jet from Taiwan exploded into flames at an airport in Okinawa after landing on August 20.

All 165 people aboard escaped alive.

All 157 passengers, including two small children, fled the Boeing 737-800 unhurt on inflated emergency slides just minutes before the plane burst into a fireball.

Investigators in Japan found that a bolt from a wing slat had pierced the fuel tank of the jet, which caught fire after landing.

Slats slide out from the forward edge of a plane's wings to stabilize it during landings and take-offs.

(China Daily August 30, 2007)