SEPANG, March 12 — Malaysia Airlines today insisted that all its aircraft met international airworthiness standards, following reports that the Boeing 777 model used by the missing flight MH370 was flagged for a safety risk last year.

Speaking at a joint press conference on the search and rescue efforts today, MAS group chief executive officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said the airline complied with all safety and advisory directives issued by relevant authorities and manufacturers.

But he added that he could not say for certain if the 777-200ER used for MH370 was inspected for the possible structural flaw discovered by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) last September.

“We ensure that all aircraft are airworthy and comply with all the ADs (Airworthiness Directive) and SBs (Service Bulletins) issued by the manufacturer.

“On this specific plane, I will have to check the records. But as a policy, Malaysia Airlines ensures that all its fleet complies with the SD (Safety Directives) and the SBs,” Ahmad Jauhari said.

The FAA in Washington had reported in September last year that cracks and corrosion were discovered in the fuselage skin of a number of Boeing 777s aged between six and 16 years old.

Such cracks, the regulator warned, could lead to rapid decompression and “loss of structural integrity of the airplane”.

Subsequent to the discovery, the FAA issued an AD on September 26, approximately five months before MH370s’s disappearance, asking that additional checks on the Boeing 777 fleet worldwide be conducted during scheduled maintenance.

“This proposed AD would require repetitive inspections of the visible fuselage skin and doubler if installed, for cracking, corrosion, and any indication of contact of a certain fastener to a bonding jumper, and repair if necessary,” the transport authority wrote in the AD found online.

“We are proposing this AD to detect and correct cracking and corrosion in the fuselage skin, which could lead to rapid decompression and loss of structural integrity of the airplane.”

The Boeing 777 aircraft was built in April 2002 and delivered to MAS on May 31, 2002, according to the database in Aviation Week, a global aviation industry service provider, making it nearly 12 years old.

It clocked 53,465.21 hours of flight and 7,525 cycles before it went missing.

Ahmad Jauhari had previously said that the aircraft underwent routine maintenance 10 days before it was reported missing last Saturday and there were no issues reported on the health of the aircraft.

He said the check was conducted on February 23 at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) hangar and the next scheduled maintenance was due on June 19.

Experts have said the Boeing 777 aircraft has a near flawless record and is one of the safest planes to fly.

Ahmad Jauhari has also stood by the safety of the Boeing 777 fleet, calling it a “very reliable” aircraft for the airline.