FAA orders airlines to check for possible cracks in regional jets By James Pilcher, The Cincinnati Enquirer CINCINNATI =97 The Federal Aviation Administration has ordered all domestic= =20 airlines that use a popular model of regional jet to inspect the planes for= =20 possible cracking. If left unchecked, the cracking could cause rapid=20 depressurization of the cabin while in flight. The "airworthiness=20 directive" goes into effect today and requires airlines such as=20 Erlanger-based Comair to increase inspections of a certain part of the=20 fuselage of the Bombardier-made Canadair Regional Jet Series 100 and its=20 44-seat variant. If a cabin loses pressure at its normal altitude, it could= =20 cause passengers and even crew to eventually lose consciousness if they are= =20 not wearing oxygen masks. Such an occurrence wouldn't necessarily mean any= =20 mechanical malfunctions, however. And decompression has not happened in any= =20 of the affected planes. "We've not experienced that at all," Burt=20 Cruickshank, a spokesman with Montreal-based Bombardier Aerospace's=20 regional jet division, said Tuesday. Comair spokesman Nick Miller said the airline had conducted the required=20 inspections on all the affected planes. "I know for a fact that we have not= =20 detected any of the cracking that is mentioned in the airworthiness=20 directive," Miller said. It was unclear from the directive, which was=20 issued May 1, how often the inspections were required previously, but they= =20 must now be done every 10,000 "cycles"; a cycle is one takeoff and one=20 landing. Comair has 97 CRJ-100s in its 138-plane fleet. Bombardier began=20 making the plane in 1991 and replaced it with the 200 series in 1996; there= =20 were 226 CRJ-100s delivered worldwide and another 21 of the 44-seat=20 variety. Cruickshank said 271 planes had been inspected worldwide and that= =20 "minor cracks" were found in 12. "This is a robust plane ... but cracking=20 is not uncommon in older models," Cruickshank said. The FAA order mirrors=20 one issued in October 2002 by the FAA's counterpart in Canada, Transit=20 Canada Civil Aviation, which oversees aviation in that country. That=20 directive was issued after cracks were found last year in some CRJ-100s=20 owned by German airline Lufthansa, Cruickshank said. Any planes that have=20 cracks can be temporarily repaired until the next scheduled major overhaul,= =20 when they are permanently repaired, Cruickshank said. The order "is to make= =20 sure the maintenance is done as required," he said. "This is a maintenance= =20 issue, not a safety issue." *************************************************** 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 *********************************************************