Canberra (dpa) - Australia's flagship carrier Qantas is conducting an inspection of a global fleet of 33 of its Boeing 737 aircraft after cracking was discovered in one plane during a maintenance check.

"We have found one example of cracking in an aircraft with just under 27,000 cycles and this aircraft has been removed from service for repair," Qantas said in a statement sent to dpa.

The crack was found on the 737's "pickle fork," which attaches the wings to the body. The same issue that has been found to have affected Boeing's popular model globally.

"Detailed analysis by Boeing shows that even where this crack is present, it does not immediately compromise the safety of the aircraft," Qantas said.

Qantas said it has been liaising with Boeing and the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) on the structural crack issue, and will inspect 33 aircraft with more than 22,600 takeoffs and landings, or cycles, by Friday.

Meanwhile, the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association, a union affiliated to Qantas, called on the airline on Thursday to ground its entire fleet of 77 Boeing 737s after it claimed a crack was found on a second aircraft overnight.

Qantas would not confirm the crack in the second aircraft, saying that the comments are "completely irresponsible."

"We would never operate an aircraft unless it was completely safe to do so," it said.

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