DC10 pylons 'the same’

Press, 13 June 1979, Page 8

DC10 pylons 'the same’

NZPA-Reuter Washington The United States Federal Aviation Administration has again said there is enough in common between the design of the DCIO series 10 and the DCIO series 30 and 40 to warrant the grounding of all models of the aircraft.

C r a c k e d engine-pylon) mounts, reported in eight aircraft, including the American Airlines jet that crashed at Chicago, on May 25 killing 275 persons, have been found only on series 10 DCIOs. However, the F.A.A. insists that the planes have enough in common to reject assertions from airlines — including Air New Zealand — that the series 30 and series 40 should be allowed to fly. Air New Zealand’s fleet is the series '3O variety, which differs from the series 40 only in engine type. A spokesman for McDon-nell-Douglas, the DCIO manufacturer, told NZPA that the engine-pylon mounts on all three series of aircraft were “essentially the same." McDonnell-Douglas has not said it believes the series 30 and series 40 jets should be allowed to operate ) again. ) But the' company spokesman repeated the manufacturer's earlier statement that 1 the F.A.A.'s “comprehensive (action (in grounding all DCIOs) is more sweeping ! and drastic than the circumisances warrant.” i The F.A.A. has come

under heavy attack in Con-| gress for its handling of) problems that forced the( grounding of the DC 10. I The F.A.A. was taken to task at a public hearing by the chairman of a congressional sub-committee, who accused the F.A.A. of indecision in not acting more quickly to deal with DCIO problems. Congressman John Burton,! who heads the House of Representatives Government activities sub-committee, in angry outbursts rebuked the agency for first briefly grounding the aircraft, allowing it to fly again, and then grounding it indefinitely last week. The F.A.A. twice issued temporary flying restrictions on the aircraft while safety checks were being made. Last Wednesday it ordered the indefinite grounding of all DCIOs.

The F.A.A.’s chairman (Mr Langhorne Bond), told the sub-committee he could not say when the aircraft would be certified to fly again. Mr Burton, a California Democrat, said the F.A.A., which is responsible for airline safety in the United States, should have investigated the DCIOs four years ago when it first became aware of cracks in the engine-mounting pylon. The Airline Passenger Association, a Texas-based private group, told the subcommittee that Mr Bond should be fired because he took too long to ground the DCIOs.