SilkAir crash spurs checks of Boeing 737s
SilkAir crash spurs checks of Boeing 737s
WASHINGTON (Agencies): The Federal Aviation Administration on Thursday ordered inspections of 211 Boeing 737 airliners to check hinge fasteners discovered missing from a jet that crashed last month in Indonesia.
The FAA airworthiness directive requires a visual inspection of the horizontal stabilizers on Boeing 737s in the 300-, 400- and 500-series models. A horizontal stabilizer is the wing-like structure on both sides of a plane's tail.
The order directs airlines to look for missing fasteners and check that all bolts connecting hinges are secured properly within 24 hours or five flights. Inspection results must be reported to the FAA within five days.
U.S. airlines affected by the order are Alaska, Boullioun Aviation Services, Continental, GE Capital Corp., ILFC, Pro Air, Southwest and Western Pacific.
The order was prompted by a preliminary investigation into the Dec. 19 crash of a Singapore-owned SilkAir Boeing 737. The jet crashed onto the island of Sumatra during a flight from Jakarta to Singapore, killing all 104 people aboard.
The FAA said 26 fasteners on the plane's horizontal stabilizer were missing. The fasteners are similar to flat-head machine screws. They fasten the rounded, leading edge of the stabilizer to the structure's forward spar.
A bolt from an elevator attachment fitting on the SilkAir jet also may have been gone. Investigators said they believe the parts may have been left off the SilkAir plane when it was built.
"There is, as of yet, no evidence linking these missing or loose fasteners to the cause of the accident," the FAA said.
The agency already has received one report of a loose fastener during an inspection. However, it reported no problems with a recent inspection of all 737 horizontal stabilizers now in production or ready for delivery within the United States.
Boeing spokesman Russ Young said the company welcomes the inspections as a prudent move. "The smart thing to do when you have a question like that is to go take a look," he said.
Young said Boeing had received no reports of any other missing fasteners.
"I've heard some second-hand comments from airlines and everything I've heard is that they haven't found anything," he said. "We've looked at airplanes both on the field and in the factory here and have not found any problems."
Boeing ran into problems last year because of parts shortages, assembly line snarls and a shortage of skilled workers as it tried to boost its jetliner production to meet airline demand.
Young said there was no indications those problems had anything to do with the SilkAir accident.
"We don't have any doubts about the quality of the airplanes leaving the factory," he said.