FAA seeks checks on 3,300 jet fuel pumps By Alan Levin, USA TODAY WASHINGTON =97 The Federal Aviation Administration plans within days to= order=20 inspections of fuel tank pumps on about 3,300 Boeing jets worldwide. The=20 order is not expected to ground any aircraft or reduce service. The models= =20 that have the fuel pumps include: all 747s, all 757s and nearly 1,200 737s= =20 produced since the 1990s. The order will apply to 1,441 jets flown by U.S.= =20 carriers. The massive inspection program is seen as a precaution to reduce= =20 the risk that a spark could occur in a fuel tank and cause an explosion,=20 officials said Tuesday night. Chafed wires have been found on two pumps in= =20 recent weeks. An explosion in a fuel tank caused TWA Flight 800 to break=20 apart off New York on July 17, 1996. The accident killed 230 people.=20 Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board have never=20 determined what caused the explosion, but regulators have taken numerous=20 steps since then to reduce the chance of fuel pump wires causing sparks.=20 Boeing last week instructed airlines flying the three models to put extra=20 fuel in the tanks. Fuel pump wires that are submerged cannot spark in the=20 absence of air. Officials at the FAA and at Boeing said there was no risk to safety if=20 airlines added fuel to the tanks. Airlines will be able to resume normal=20 operations after performing inspections that take two hours on each jet. To= =20 ensure that wiring in the pumps is safe, airlines will have to X-ray all=20 pumps on those models. The inspections result from a smaller inspection=20 program announced Aug. 30. At that time, the FAA announced that 118 jets=20 worldwide would be inspected because a new pump model that Boeing began=20 installing on jets last October could have been incorrectly wired. The=20 wiring problem could heighten the risk that wires could chafe and then=20 spark. After that order, Boeing, working with the pump supplier,=20 Hydro-Aire, discovered two instances in which earlier pump models might=20 also have suffered from the same problem, Boeing spokeswoman Liz Verdier= said. "Boeing is working closely with the supplier and the FAA to resolve this=20 issue and ensure the safety of the flying public," the company said in a=20 statement. The FAA estimates that it will cost about $173,000 for carriers in the=20 country to follow the order. Foreign aviation regulators normally follow=20 the FAA's lead and order identical inspections on jets around the=20 world. Explosions in center tanks are extremely rare. In addition to the=20 explosion aboard TWA Flight 800's heated center tank, federal safety=20 investigators have also blamed center tank explosions for the destruction=20 of two other jets in Asia. The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site: Roj (Roger James) *************************************************** escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: http://www.tntisland.com CBC Website http://www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ The Trinbago Site of the Week: (ReadyMix) http://www.readymix.co.tt/ (ReadyMix Cement Ltd) courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com TnT Web Directory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************