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FAA Requires Airlines to Retrofit Aircraft to Avoid Fuel Tank Explosions

Posted on: Monday, 14 November 2005, 21:00 CST

By Sylvia Adcock, Newsday, Melville, N.Y.

Nov. 15--The federal government told airlines yesterday they will need to retrofit thousands of passenger aircraft to prevent fuel tank explosions like the one that brought down TWA Flight 800 off the coast of Long Island.

The 152-page proposed rule issued by the Federal Aviation Administration comes after months of wrangling within the U.S. Department of Transportation, the FAA's parent agency, over the cost to the airlines -- estimated to be $313 million to retrofit 3,200 passenger planes over the next seven years.

The first planes to get the changes will be Boeing 747s, 737s and Airbus A320s -- a total of more than 2,000 aircraft worldwide. The FAA will make a final decision after a public comment period.

The FAA's action came the day before the National Transportation Safety Board holds its annual meeting on its "most-wanted" safety improvements. Preventing fuel-tank explosions has been a priority for the NTSB for years, and officials this summer told reporters the FAA was dragging its feet.

The Boeing 747 that was TWA Flight 800 exploded shortly after takeoff from Kennedy Airport in July 1996, killing all 230 aboard. Investigators found that the center fuel tank had heated to an explosive level during a two-hour delay at Kennedy, and that faulty wiring may have ignited the flammable vapors.

The fuel tanks of most jet aircraft are often filled with explosive vapors during the early parts of flights, particularly on warm days, investigators found. That's because the air conditioning systems for many aircraft, which generate heat, are below the center fuel tank.

The proposed rule does not specify a method, but Boeing has developed a kit that uses air from engines to pump nitrogen into the center tank, replacing the oxygen. Without oxygen, vapors can't ignite. The retrofit kits will be supplied "at cost," said Boeing spokeswoman Liz Verdier, meaning the airlines will bear the burden of the cost, but Boeing can't make a profit. "Everybody agrees that this is the right thing to do," she said.

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Copyright (c) 2005, Newsday, Melville, N.Y.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: Newsday, Melville, N.Y.

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