Boeing Shanghai was banned from providing maintenance services to B767 freighters for three months after it was found responsible for breaking the rudder of an aircraft belonging to SF Airlines at the end of 2018.

According to a notice released earlier this month by the East China Regional Administration of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, the rudder of an aircraft belonging to SF Airlines, a Chinese cargo airline owned by the SF Express, was broken during maintenance on Dec. 25, 2018.

After a month-long investigation, the administration found that Boeing Shanghai's maintenance staff violated several rules when performing maintenance on the aircraft. The administration therefore decided to ban the company from providing further maintenance services to B767 freighters, effective Feb. 1. 

It was found that the workers of Boeing Shanghai moved the rudder against procedure and didn't install all the necessary parts when checking leaks in the elevator and rudder. 

Moreover, after the checks, quality inspectors failed to examine the plane according to procedure.

These lapses combined resulted in the breakage of the rudder. 

Boeing Shanghai signed a maintenance agreement with SF Airlines in July 2017. Starting operation in 2019, the latter now has a fleet of 50 cargo planes, all of which are Boeing models.

Boeing's problems are mounting after two 737 Max jets crashed just six months apart -- the first leaving Jakarta, Indonesia, in October, and the second leaving Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in March. The company has invited great controversy as there are indications of failure in the evaluation of its airplanes' safety.

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