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Aviation History
1989
1989 - 0117.PDF
Midland 737 crash Although East Midlands was not the nearest airport when the emergency was declared, it was Hunt's company operating base, and the extra time required to reach it, rather than the closer Luton or Bir mingham airports, would have been minimal,. The CAA instruction to 737 operators was in the form of a technical letter, which effec tively grounded 737-300s and -400s until completion of "tests on engine overheat and fire detection systems and each engine vibration monitoring system to verify flightdeck indications for the respective engines are correctly orien tated". The flightcrew pre-flight test of the fire warning system in the 737-400 does not distin guish between the two engines. However, the AAIB has not so far said it has found any type of misconnection on the crashed aircraft. The crashed aircraft was powered by two 23,5001b-thrust CFM56-3Cls, which are instal led in nine of the 737-400s flying. The remainder are powered by the 22,0001b-thrust -3B2s fitted to 737-300s. The CFM56-3 has logged almost 5 million hours and has an in-flight shutdown rate of 0-007/ l,000hr. The CFM56 family of engines has logged 10,580,000hr with a inflight shutdown rate of 0 • 01 /1,000hr. Boeing 737-400 cockpit layout Main fire warning and master caution lights left and right side Secondary engine/hydraulic display Vibration instrumentation Faultyinop-over' heat/fire test switch ixtinguisher test light (green) Engine overheat light / Fire control panel (amber) Fng warnjng handle Fire warning handle FLIGHT light (red) light (red) Engine overheat light (amber) Reed Business Publishing 198E The 737-400 cockpit, highlighting the fire-warning systems 757 wiring checks reveal faults Five days after the British Midland 737 crash, but in an apparently unconnected move, the US Federal Aviation Authority ordered inspections of wiring in the cargo-hold fire-fighting sys tems of Boeing 757s. The FAA. issued an Airworthiness Directive after faults were found in two air craft belonging to Delta Air Lines and Royal Brunei Airlines. Boeing says that, in the affected aircraft, the two halon fire extinguishers would empty into the wrong cargo hold if triggered. The error is a straightforward cross-connection at the extin guisher end of the circuit. In the UK, Manchester- based charter carrier Air 2000 found a similar, but "not identical", fault in Boeing 757 G-OOOC. Other than two aircraft still in overhaul and not yet checked, the Air 2000 aircraft was the only one out of 44 757s on the British register in which a wiring fault was discovered. Air 2000 engineering direc tor Terry Sault believes that, in his affected aircraft, both bottles would have fired correctly into the forward cargo hold, but only the first would have operated into the aft hold. "This was definitely a manufacturing error," he says. The company is requesting an explanation of the fault from Boeing. Boeing has previously had to redesign the fire-extin guisher bottles in the 767 after three operators, American Airlines, Japan Air Lines, and All Nippon Airways, found bottles installed the wrong way round. 747-400 certificated The Pratt & Whitney-powered Boeing 747-400 received US Federal Aviation Administra tion certification on January 9, and delivery to the first customer, Northwest Airlines, is due this week. Certification had been planned for last December, but the technical advances in the -400 had slowed testing more than anticipated. The 82-month test programme has so far totalled about 2,600hr, of which about half were in the air. Four aircraft are used in the programme, leading to certifi cation of the aircraft with Pratt & Whitney PW4000s, General Electric CF6-80C2s, and Rolls- Royce RB.211-524Gs. The GE and Rolls-Royce engines are due to be certificated in the early spring, Boeing says. Northwest launched the 747-400 programme in October 1985, with an order for ten aircraft. The aircraft is expected to enter revenue service next ,week; although initially it may operate domestic sectors before going on trans-Pacific routes. Lufthansa is the first customer to receive General Electric- powered -400s, and Cathay Pacific first for the Rolls-Royce version. In total, 21 customers have ordered 169 of this latest 747 variant. • Malaysian Airlines System has ordered another three Boeing 747-400s with options on a further three, worth about $423 million. Deliveries of the General Electric-powered aircraft will begin in April 1991. MAS has deferred its decision to designate what type of -400 it will require: all-passenger, Combi, or all-cargo. McDonnell Douglas unveils helicopter McDonnell Douglas has released'details of its new eight- seat, twin-turbine MD-X light helicopter at the Helicopter Association International show in New Orleans, six weeks after the project was given the go- ahead by company • chairman John McDonnell. McDonnell Douglas helicop ters president Bill Brown says that his company has received cash deposits from more than 80 prospective MD-X custom ers. The $1-7 million helicop ter (1988 prices) will be rjeady for delivery in 1993, and'; the company expects to 'sell between 800 and 1,000 exam ples in the first ten years of MDX production. Although the design will not be frozen until late 1990, the MD-X will feature the unique Notar no-tail-rotor anti-torque system, an all-composite five- blade bearingless main rotor, and integrated digital avionics built around two 9in by 12in flat-panel cockpit displays. An engine choice will be made within the next three months. Contenders are the Allison 250-C30 or C20RX, Turbomeca TM319, and Pratt & Whitney Canada PW205B. Full-scale wind tunnel tests of the MD-X with its skid landing gear are to begin later this year at NASA Ames in California. The MD-X has a design gross weight of 5,4001b, a sea level speed of 173 m.p.h., and a maximum range of 403 miles. FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 21 January 1989 3
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