Cracks found in U.K. jumbos

Press, 20 February 1986, Page 6

Cracks found in U.K. jumbos

NZPA-AP London Britain’s Civil Aviation Authority says that inspectors have so far found structural cracks in six of British Airways’ 28 Boeing 7475. The State-appointed aviation authority said 13 Boeing 747 aircraft worldwide, including the six British Airways jumbos, had been found to have structural cracks. It did not identify the other airlines.

British Airways ordered inspections of the front internal frames of its jumbos on February 12 after finding cracks in three of its 16 older-model jumbos. “We’ve done eight so far and six of them had cracks, which are being repaired as they’re found,” said a British Airways spokesman. British Airways had anticipated an order by the C.A.A., issued on Tuesday, requiring that the front internal frames of all older-model Boeing 747 s owned by British airlines be inspected. The United States Federal Aviation Administration has ordered internal checks on older Boeing 747 s to determine if any had structural frame cracks. The directives applied to all Boeing workhorse jumbos that had made more than 10,000 flights. “At the moment, it looks like British Airways planes have nearly half the structural cracks reported world-wide. But

wait for a few days until all the other airlines start checking their aircraft and that willgive a perspective on the problem,” said the British Airways spokesman. • An inspection of five Japan Air Lines jumbo jets had revealed about 80 cracks on each of them, the Transport Ministry said.

The over-all check of JA.L.’s , five Boeing 747SRs serving its domestic routes was ordered by the Ministry after the crash in August of another J.A.L. airliner, in which 520 people aboard were killed. Four people survived. The results showed that the number of cracks found on the five jets, each with over 15,000 flights, ranged from 73 to 88 per plane, a Ministry spokesman said. Between 62 per cent and 75 per cent of the cracks were found in "section 41," covering an area from the nose to the cockpit. The spokesman said the inspection had found no cracks big enough to cause ruptures. All five jumbos were back in the air after repairs. The Ministry has instructed J.A.L. and two other domestic airlines to inspect about 16 Boeing 747 s with over 10,000 flights for possible cracks. This order also resulted from the airworthiness directive issued by the United States Federal Aviation Administration.