Airline Safety

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Airline Safety

Systems, Parts and Maintenance

In July of 1996, a Boeing 747 carrying the designator Flight 800 took off from Kennedy Airport in New York. On board were two hundred and thirty people who were entrusting their individual safety to an aircraft that had one of the best safety records in the airline industry. The Boeing 747 has been in service for many years, and has been utilized for many different things including the one designated Air Force One. Nine miles off the coast of Long Island the aircraft exploded, killing everybody on board (Adcock 08). The wreckage was strewn over a wide area of the Atlantic Ocean and proved to be very difficult to recover. It took several months to sift through the sand on the ocean floor and recover the parts from the aircraft. Speculation that the aircraft had somehow been the victim of a terrorist act was the topic of the day. There were theories that the aircraft had exploded as a result of a bomb placed aboard (Adcock 08). There were theories that it had been the victim of a ground to air missile or an air-to-air missile. There were investigations to find out if the Navy had inadvertently shot the aircraft down. Accusations were flung in the most unlikely places. Security at the international airports was increased and bomb squads regularly checked each departing aircraft for any explosives. People were afraid to fly because they were afraid of terrorist attacks.

The Federal Aviation Administration investigated all of these possibilities and one more. They investigated the possibility that a part on the aircraft had failed and caused the explosion. This wasn't a popular theory because of the Boeing 747's excellent safety record and the fact that aircraft in general weren't in the habit of exploding in mid-air. When all of the information was in and the final report issued, it was determined that the cause of the crash was probably a wire in the fuel indicator system that had grown old and frayed. There wasn't enough direct physical evidence to prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt, however subsequent investigations of aircraft that were as old as the 747 on Flight 800 - twenty five years - showed wiring cracks and fraying in a manner consistent with the theories advanced about the crash of Flight 800 (Adcock 08).

The Federal Aviation Agency has since initiated an aging aircraft program with t...

... middle of paper ...

...e need for adequate funding and personnel by the FAA.

The FAA is obviously doing everything that it can under the circumstances, however the trend toward cost cutting and compromise of maintenance programs is continuing. It is showing no signs of lessening due to the fact that the airlines are continually being squeezed between needing to lower fares and pay higher maintenance costs.

WORKS CITED

Dickey, Christopher. "What Went Wrong." Newsweek International. August 2000

Fed: Undercarriage collapses on Qantas jet. AAP General News

(Australia). April 22, 2000

"FENA for proper maintenance of DC-10s to keep these running, The Independent". September 2000

Hinson, David. "ValuJet Airlines crash." Jet lag.(Federal Aviation Commission ( The New Republic ). 12-16-1996

“Incorrectly Reports Inspection Cycle for Part Implicated in the Alaska Flight 261 Tragedy”. Business Wire. May 2000

"Oversight of Maintenance & Repair Facility Practices Under Examination". Air Safety Week. July 1999 PG

Sullivan, John. "FAA delayed telling airlines about failed cables Agency defends move, saying part not crucial for flight control”. The Dallas Morning News. June 2000

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