Posted on 07/16/2008 3:29:04 PM PDT by John W
Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The Federal Aviation Authority is slated to issue Wednesday an order requiring aircraft jet fuel tanks to be upgraded in an effort to avert air disasters.
The requirement's introduction coincides with the 12th anniversary of the ill-fated TWA Flight 800 which exploded in 1996. The Boeing 747-100 was on its way to Paris from New York when it exploded off Long Island. All 230 passengers and crew perished.
According to an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), hot and highly explosive fumes in the aircraft's center tank ignited.
A majority of other large planes could be vulnerable to similar explosions, prompting the NTSB to recommend that all jets must be equipped with a device that would blow out flames in fuel tanks. Air carriers were against the recommendation because it involved high costs.
The cost issue was solved after an FAA scientist discovered a more affordable device in 2002 that covers fuel tanks with nitrogen gas to prevent explosions. The FAA gave air carriers 10 years to equip their jets with the device, but exempts planes that would be retired by 2018.
The requirement covers more than 3,000 aircraft used by American airlines, including the Boeing 737, 747, 757, 767 and 777 models and all Airbus models. As of 2004, the cost of installing the device on existing jets was placed by the FAA at $700 million.
U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Mary Peters will announce the details of the new FAA requirement at a news conference on Wednesday in Ashburn, Virginia.
How long do you think it will take for the conspiracy theorists to pollute this thread regarding TWA 800?
12 years later....how timely of the government to address the issue.
The FAA is till trying to sell folks on the TWA-800 center fuel tank fairy tale. Once upon a time children, there was this great big airplane...
Honest to God, does our government have anything better to do than continue to push the big lie?
Well, you answered your own question by posting that tripe.
My thoughts exactly. Must have been a real priority for them.
Well 12 years later, and how many more TWA-800s have we had?
I’m sure the reality of this is lost on them though.
...and 10 years to correct the problem? Something tells me no problem really exist.
Yes, you are correct. This was total BS.
This should help the struggling airline industry get back on its feet!
Nope. But fast moving projectiles will bounce off it like a shuttlecock.
Thanks. I remain amazed at how many people think that Clinton Administration/FBI/CIA con job was the gospel truth.
It's been ongoing...
We have (as a bus jet OEM SS) inspected existing tanks during inspection for quite some time. Even the wiring leaving the tanks and going into the cabin area for possible electrical induction because of this theory.
Better safe than sorry at little cost.
In 50 years of commercial jet powered flight, how may JP fuel tanks have spontaneously combusted in mid-air?
Total BS your comments especially.
Yep!
Ongoing or not, 22 years to correct a potential problem tells me there is no problem.
Better safe than sorry at little cost.
22 years after the fact is not consistent with "Better Safe than Sorry".
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