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Aviation History
1980
1980 - 0004.PDF
2 FLIGHT International. S January 1980 V\Md news IMTSB gives Chicago crash causes THE US National Transportation Safety Board has revealed the main findings in its report on the crash of an American Airlines DC-10-10 on May 25 at Chicago's O'Hare Airport which killed all 271 people on board (plus two on the ground). The report, which has yet to be published, was presented to the full board before Christmas and cites several contributory factors for the crash. In the board's words, the crash was "the end result of maintenance damage which caused separation of the left engine and pylon." Although maintenance procedures are cited as the main cause of the crash, the board also lists other factors which contributed to the accident: • The "vulnerability of the design of pylon attachment points to mainten ance damage" • The "vulnerability of the design of the leading-edge slat system to the damage which produced assymmetry" • "Deficiencies in the FAA surveil lance and reporting systems which failed to detect and prevent the use of improper maintenance procedures" • "Deficiencies in the practices and communications" among McDonnell Douglas, the operators and FAA which failed to detect and make known previous maintenance damage incidents • "The intolerance of prescribed operational procedures [for take-off] to this unique emergency" The NTSB says that the DC-10 wing pylon met regulatory strength requirements but "neither the designers nor the certification review team adequately considered the vulnerability of the structure to damage during maintenance. In Air France reveals GE engine price THE bid by which GE beat P&W for the Air France order for 35 CF6 engines for 15 A310s (Flight for December 29) has been detailed. P&W's price last June was already pitched Fr70 million (about £7-7 million) below normal catalogue price and P&W offered a further FrlOO million reduction. Air France asked the French Government for permission to accept the deal, think ing GE would not match these condi tions. Then, on December 6, GE offered Air France the same price, as P&W and then reduced this another Fr50 million. Discussion reopened and on December 12 GE dropped its price yet further by Frl8 million, making a total price reduction, relative to the original P&W catalogue price, of Fr238 million (about £26-4 million). In addition, GE grants Air France a favoured nafion clause which means that Air France will benefit from any price reductions offered in future by. GE to other customers. Then, 77 JT9D engines installed in 16 Air France Boeing 747s will be renovated free of charge within the Atlas group. The work will be done by Lufthansa and will take 30 months instead of the 15 months originally offered by P&W. Air France says that this adoption of the GE engine is an act of good will towards Snecma, which currently contributes 27 per cent by value of the CF6s supplied for A300s, including assem bling the engines, and supplies certain components for CF6s used by Air France. several places, clearances were unnecessarily small and made main tenance difficult to perform." Two pylon flange failures on Continental Airlines DC-lOs had been detected and repaired before the Chicago crash and the board expresses con cern that key engineering and main tenance staff at American Airlines were not aware of the Continental incidents. It is the board's opinion that the reporting procedures which allowed this to happen "had and still has a serious deficiency" and that "this accident may be indicative of a climate of complacency." NTSB investigations, which included exten sive simulation of the detachment of an engine during take-off, demon strated that only a crew which knew in advance what was going to happen could have prevented the crash. Separation of the pylon damaged hydraulic and flight-control compon ents, causing uncommanded retraction of the left wing's six outboard leading- edge slats. Two cockpit warning systems were disabled by pylon separation—a slat disagreement system which alerts the crew when slats are not in the selected position, and the stickshakers. The NTSB con cludes that uncommanded slat retrac tion, the consequent assymmetric stall and inoperative warning systems caused the pilots to lose control. "Each by itself would not have caused a qualified flightcrew to lose control, but put together during a critical portion of the flight they left the crew with an inadequate oppor tunity to recognise and prevent the ensuing stall." The NTSB recom mends that take-off procedures should be changed so that a similarly damaged aircraft could be brought under control and landed safely. Rolls-Royce profit target unchanged ROLLS-BOYCE'S financial objective for 1981 remains' unchanged, UK Industry Secretary Sir Keith Joseph has announced during question time in the House of Commons. The British aero-engine manufacturer was re cently taken under the direct control of .his department, following its previous ownership by the National Enterprise Board (see World News for November 17, November 24 and December 1). Rolls-Royce must make a return of 10 per cent on assets employed by 1981, the same target as had been pursued following the com pany's shares transfer to the NEB in 1975. "I am sure the present and future management of Rolls-Royce will make as great a success as can be made of the triumphant increase in orders," achieved by the present management and workforce, said Joseph. He was urged by Labour MP Dr Gavin Strong to show Rolls-Royce sympathy and support and not the "ruthless abandon" which seemed to have been shown for other publicly owned companies. • In a November Commons' written answer Rolls-Royce return on capital since nationalisation, as defined by the NEB, was given as: 1976 -6-8 per cent; 1977 11-9 per cent; and 1978 90 per cent. Although not strictly comparable, figures derived from Rolls-Royce reports "using a definition of return on capital em ployed as the company's profits before interest and tax as a percentage of net assets employed, plus bank loans and overdrafts and short-term loans" are given as: 1972 11-9 per cent; 1973 18-7 per cent; 1974 13-0 per cent and 1975 41 per cent.
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