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Aviation History
1989
1989 - 2952.PDF
OPERATIONS: SAFETY FAA orders disc checks on CF6-6 Compulsory checks have been ordered on certain General Electric CF6-6-series engine fan discs on McDonnell Douglas DC-10-lOs. On October 7 the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airworthiness directive (AD) becomes effective requiring ultrasonic inspection of a defined group of discs in addition to those already undergoing inspection following the Sioux City DC-10 accident in July. Five operators are affected by the move. The AD is unusual, taking the form of a "final rule" but allowing a 30-day period for comment because the work demanded (and possible aircraft downtime) could be considerable. "The AD is needed to identify and remove from service Stage 1 fan discs which may have metallurgical imperfections [which] can adversely affect the service life of the disc," says the Federal Avi ation Administration. Following the Sioux City acci dent, airlines were required to check for metallurgical imper fections in "all companion disc forgings from the same melt lot". This was done, even though the Sioux City disc fragments have not yet been found to establish for certain that a metallurgical flaw had anything to do with the break-up. General Electric says that fewer than 100 of the discs affected by the new AD are still in service. The affected airlines are United, American, Continental, Federal Express, and Turkish Airlines. The new directive states: "A further review of process records has revealed three populations of material heat lots having differ ent susceptibility to [metal lurgical] imperfections. Although the relationship of these material imperfections to the material imperfections of the fracture of the disc involved in the Sioux City accident has not been estab lished, the FAA has determined that ultrasonic inspections are required to ensure that detri mental imperfections are not present." The inspections involve disc removal and immersion in fluid during the lengthy ultrasonic test. As FAA tests continue, the AD says, the instructions may be modified. The FAA also says "... a good case exists for making this amendment effective in less than 30 days," yet it has shied away from actually doing it. Q USAir's 737-400 lies in East Bay after its aborted La Guardia take-off Still no answer to USAir crash Pilot error, mechanical prob lems, and poor runway condi tions are being cited as possible contributors to the USAir 737-400 crash at New York's La Guardia Airport last week. Two passengers were killed when the aircraft, destined for Charlotte, North Carolina, slid into the East River after the pilot aborted take-off last Wednesday night. The 7,000ft runway was wet, and light rain was falling. Rescue teams quickly pulled the 61 survivors out of the river. Many were clinging to driftwood, or to parts of the aircraft. The 737, which had been in service with the airline just nine months, was broken into three parts, the nose section impaling itself on a wood and concrete pier that supports a set of runway lights. UTA DC-10 "mid-air explosion" investigated AFrench investigation team has joined an international enquiry commission looking into the crash of a Union de Trans ports Aeriens (UTA) McDonnell Douglas DC-10 destroyed in a mid-air explosion thought to have been caused by a bomb. The two black boxes were recovered late last week and taken to Paris, where early exam ination showed that everything was normal before the crash. Debris examined by the French authorities is said to show traces of explosive. Inquiries are now being directed towards a Lebanese Shi'ite group being responsible. The September 19 explosion over the Sahara Desert killed all 156 passengers and a crew of 15. The aircraft was on a flight from Brazzaville to Paris with a stop over at N'Djamena, Chad. Debris was scattered over a 100km2 area in the Tenere desert in Niger territory. The aircraft, purchased by UTA in 1973 with US registration N54629, had logged 60,267 fly ing hours in 14,777 flights. The DC-10, Flight 772, took off from N'Djamena Airport in Chad at 1213h, and Capt Geor ges Raveneau made his last VHF radio contact with the control tower at 1234h during the ascent to 8,000m indicated. Everything was normal, then there was abso lute silence. The French inquiry team includes experts from the Defence Ministry, Interior Minis try, Transport Ministry, Office of air accidents and the flight con trol office. Among the passengers on board were Bonnie Pugh, the wife of US Ambassador to Chad Robert L. Pugh, Chadian Planning Minister Soumaila Mahamat, four British nationals working for the Esso oil com pany, 50 French citizens, and 100 Africans. The crew members were all French. In 1984 a UTA DC-8 was dam aged in an explosion at N'Djamena Airport. • National Transportation Safety Board investigator James Kolstad says that the cockpit voice recorder registered "... no sound or voices that indicate there was any problem with the take-off, or why the take-off was aborted". The flight date recorder shows minor rudder deviations during the take-off roll, however, consis tent with skid marks sub sequently found about halfway down the runway. Both the captain and the copilot of the flight have been suspended. It was the copilot's first operational flight in a Boeing 737, and the pilot had just 138h captaining the type. Several apparent irregularities in their performance before and during the take-off are being investigated. • Bond Helicopters W e have been asked to clarify a report in Flight for September 23 concerning the ditching of a Bond Helicop ters MBB BO.105. In a refer ence to fuel system booster pumps we quoted. the UK DoT Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) as saying: "All pumps had severe corrosion on their motors and damage to capacitors as a result of salt water intrusion into the motor case." This did not necessarily imply that the pumps were cor roded before the crash. The AAIB has since concluded that the most likely cause of the ditching was a double engine flameout caused by ice, slush, or snow ingestion. 10 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 30 September 1989
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