FAA can't find records of inspectors before Charlotte crash CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) =97 The Federal Aviation Administration can't find=20 documents showing its inspectors saw mechanics at a West Virginia=20 maintenance hangar work on planes before a Charlotte crash that killed 21=20 people. The chief FAA inspector overseeing maintenance for the airline that= =20 operated the commuter plane insists he went to the base in Huntington,=20 W.Va., at least twice before the Jan. 8 crash, once after it started=20 operating. Work was performed on the plane at the base two days before the= =20 crash. Jerry Unruh, the inspector, couldn't explain why his visits didn't=20 show up in a database where information on inspections are captured, The=20 Charlotte Observer reported Saturday. He re-entered inspection records on a= =20 July 15 visit shortly after speaking with the newspaper, according to an=20 FAA spokeswoman. But the FAA has been unable to find any records showing inspectors visited= =20 the hangar after maintenance work began there in late July and before the=20 crash. The discovery comes follow the Observer's request for inspection=20 records. Maintenance work is a key element in trying to determine why US=20 Airways Express Flight 5481 crashed shortly after takeoff from=20 Charlotte/Douglas International Airport. The plane was slated to travel to= =20 Greer, S.C. The National Transportation Safety Board, which is=20 investigating the crash, has said the flight control cables on the plane=20 were improperly adjusted two days before the crash during work performed at= =20 the West Virginia hangar. Air Midwest, which operated the flight for US=20 Airways, contracted with Raytheon Aerospace LLC to maintain its planes. In= =20 turn, Raytheon subcontracted with a Florida company to provide mechanics.=20 The mechanic who adjusted the cables had never done the job on that type of= =20 plane before, the newspaper reported earlier. It's unclear whether the FAA was aware of the unusual operating arrangement= =20 at the maintenance base before the crash. Some experts have said the=20 arrangement would make it harder for the airline to ensure the quality of=20 work. No laws or regulations require the FAA to inspect every maintenance=20 facility an airline operates, according to agency spokesman Les Dorr. The=20 FAA monitors airlines to ensure that they train mechanics appropriately,=20 distribute maintenance manuals and properly calibrate tools, Dorr said.=20 Unruh said he entered the records of his first visit into the computer=20 system shortly after it was completed last summer, according to an FAA=20 spokeswoman, but he believes a computer glitch kept it from being saved.=20 Unruh said he remembers watching mechanics take apart and reassemble a=20 plane's nose gear during a second visit to the hangar before the crash. He= =20 found no problems with the work, he said. Freedom of Information Act=20 officials say they've been unable to find records of such a visit. Douglas Burdette, Freedom of Information Act manager for the office that=20 keeps the inspection database, said it's rare that inspection records=20 aren't properly downloaded into the system. Such computer problems probably= =20 affect one or two of the more than 10,000 inspection records entered into=20 the database annually, he said. Citing the NTSB's investigation, Unruh said= =20 he couldn't comment about whether the FAA was aware before the crash that=20 Raytheon had contracted with the company called Structural, Modification=20 and Repair Technicians Inc. to provide contract labor. The mechanic who=20 adjusted elevator control cables on the Beech 1900 expected a supervisor to= =20 inspect his work, a source told the Observer. Investigators are trying to=20 determine whether that happened. The NTSB has scheduled a public hearing on= =20 the crash for May 20 in Washington. The board also is looking at the=20 plane's weight with shifting baggage as a possible contributing cause of=20 the crash. The plane that crashed was estimated to be within 100 pounds of= =20 maximum takeoff weight. Since the crash, the FAA has reviewed rules=20 governing passenger and baggage weight in planes with 19 seats and fewer;=20 its preliminary study indicated current weight standards are too low. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: http://www.cso.gov.tt TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************