Video: Defective fasteners installed on Boeing 737s

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RENTON, Wash. – The Federal Aviation Administration is taking a close look at a problem affecting of hundreds of Boeing-made jets.

It's no longer than the diameter of a quarter, but a little part called a nutplate is used to help hold airplanes together.

Now, tens of thousands of others lack an important coating of cadmium. That nearly invisible coating is important because it prevents the stainless steel nutplate from reacting with the airplanes aluminum, which can lead to corrosion.

problem is focused on Boeing supplier Spirit Aerosystems in Wichita, Kansas. They're the one's that build the 737 fuselages and ship them to Renton by train.

Spirit says the untreated nutplates from one of their suppliers got mixed in with treated plates from another were installed by the thousands. Spirit employees are now inside Boeing plants trying to find and replace the bad nutplates on new jets.

As for planes already delivered to airlines, the details are still being worked out. The Federal Aviation Administration does not consider this a safety of flight issue, provided that airlines inspect for any corrosion and replace the untreated parts.

"The good thing here is it has been caught early. The FAA is on top of it," said former Boeing engineer Todd Curtis. He now runs the Web site Airsafe.com

Take Southwest Airlines. It's a big 737 operator with 42 affected planes and is awaiting direction from Boeing and the FAA. A spokesperson says they, "Expect any replacement will be incorporated within scheduled maintenance visits." The spokesperson adds that the problem it will not get to the point of corrosion.

Alaska airlines has 15 affected jets and is taking a similar approach, but what worries Curtis are some developing countries with less regulation.

"This kind of thing might fall through the cracks," said Curtis.

Even if left alone, it would years for any corrosion to show up. The question the FAA wants to answer: Just how many years?

Spirit says the untreated parts were also used in the nose sections of 777’s, 747’s and 767’s.