FAA Addresses Decayed Wiring

FAA Addresses Decayed Wiring Associated Press
Friday, August 17, 2001; Page E10

Federal Aviation Administration officials said yesterday that they would begin new training and maintenance programs to address the problem of decayed wiring on airplanes.

The action comes in the aftermath of the explosion of TWA Flight 800 off the coast of Long Island in July 1996. Federal safety investigators believe that a spark in the wiring ignited vapors in a fuel tank. All 230 people aboard were killed.

The problem has grown more acute as airplanes age and all of their systems, including the wiring, get older.

"The failure of electrical wiring may lead to loss of function or smoke and/or fire," the FAA said in a report issued yesterday. "Wire degradation can occur with age and be accelerated by exposure to moisture, vibration and mechanical stress, and temperature variation. Over time, the possibilities increase that improper installation or repair, contamination, or inadequate maintenance has caused further exposure to these conditions."

The FAA told airline manufacturers to let the various airlines know of potential problems with wiring. The agency will develop its own handbook as well to help airlines develop new maintenance and inspection programs.

The agency said it would require airlines to improve programs for training employees and maintaining wiring and would ask airplane manufacturers to correct any problems in existing wiring systems.

"The sooner changes are made to maintenance and training programs, the sooner the safety margin will increase," the FAA said.

The FAA also said it would look at whether performance tests should be required for airplane wiring.

The agency said that it would order the airlines to begin taking some steps immediately to improve the maintenance of airplane wiring systems and that all actions should be put in place the end of 2004.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22999-2001Aug16.html

USA TODAY

FAA addresses wiring issues Agency will order steps to improve aircraft inspections
By Alan Levin

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Aviation Administration announced Thursday that it is training its inspectors and engineers to do a better job of spotting problems with aircraft wiring, and it asked airlines and manufacturers to do the same.

Damaged wiring, found most often on older aircraft, can spark fires and explosions in some cases. In a safety program begun after TWA Flight 800 crashed off Long Island in 1996, the FAA found thousands of instances of damaged or improperly installed wiring in 81 older airline jets.

Most of the problems were the result of maintenance on the jets, and the chances of damage increased over time, said John Hickey, who heads the FAA's aircraft-certification division.

The agency also said it would begin a long-term effort to require changes in wiring standards in new aircraft, maintenance procedures that don't damage wiring and improved inspections to spot problems. It hopes to write new rules by 2004, Hickey said.

The FAA's investigation found that ''we needed a safety-enhancement program that covered a broad cross-section of the system,'' Hickey said.

Wiring is suspected of causing two major accidents. The National Transportation Safety Board concluded that a spark from damaged wiring most likely downed TWA Flight 800, killing 230 people. Swissair Flight 111 crashed off Nova Scotia in 1998 after a fire broke out, killing 229. The accident is still under investigation, but wiring is one of the chief suspects.

Many of the steps announced by the FAA have been sought by safety advocates and the NTSB. However, some say the effort falls short.

Edward Block, a wiring expert who was part of the FAA inspection team, said the agency's new program of relying mainly on visual inspections is inadequate. More than 100 miles of wire snake through aircraft, most inaccessible to inspectors. Block also said that certain types of wire are more dangerous than others but that the FAA ignored such concerns.

Hickey said the agency is funding efforts to develop better testing equipment to identify hidden wiring problems. He said the training effort is an attempt to prevent the types of problems identified in inspections. For example, the FAA found that standards for wiring during aircraft upgrades were lax, which allowed wiring to be placed where it could be damaged.



to DREADLE main