LONDON, April 9: Leading airlines in the world have ordered emergency checks on their Boeing 747 range of aircraft after a wiring damage was found in some of the planes of the British Airways fleet.The British Airlines, one of the biggest Boeing operators in the world, announced inspections following warning sounded by the US government safety agency, the national transportation safety board.Similar, checks have also been ordered by major European airliners including Lufthansa, KLM, Swiss Air and others.
The US transportation safety board ordered the warning checks after it came to light that the ill-fated TWA flight 800 which crashed in 1996, off New York, killing all 230 on board had also suffered damaged wiring. On checks, some of the older 747-100 being operated by British Airways were found to have similar wiring damage.
British Airways officials said damaged wiring had been found in four being 747's. Air Indian officials reached here said they had seen media reports of wiring damage and hadcommunicated to Air India headquarters in Mumbai.
Air India operates about 15 Boeing 747's of which only six are of the new 747-400 series.
Jim Hall, the American safety board chief said two inappropriate repairs were found in the fuel indication wiring in the wing-tip tanks of the twa 800 wreckage during the investigations."Similar inappropriate repair was found in the centre wing tank of the British Airways 747, where chafed wires had been mended with fuel tank sealant, a material not not approved by Boeing for electrical wiring," British Airways officials said.
Hall said "these findings illustrate unsafe conditions that may exist in other 747's and should be addressed by the federal aviation administration".
However, British Airways and other major European airline officials discounted any move for grounding the Boeing 747-200 and 300 series during inspections.
The American safety board is specially insisting of inspections on the oldest Boeing 747-100 series as well as some newer models, the747-200 and 747-300.
The safety board is now asking the Federation Aviation Administration (FAA) to insist on electrical surge protectors in all transport and passenger aircraft to prevent high energy current entering measurement systems inside fuel tanks.Hall said the US safety board had also recommended the earliest possible replacement of some types of equipment, known as terminal blocks, with sharp edges that may damage the fuel system wiring in Boeing 747's.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
