‘Massive repairs to air fleet needed’

Press, 1 March 1989, Page 10

‘Massive repairs to air fleet needed’

NZPA-Reuter New York The United States airline industry, in a report to be made public today, will call for a repair programme on ageing airliners that would be the most sweeping in commercial aviation, the “New York Times” said.

The repairs would take several years to complete, would involve as many as 1000 commercial jets and would cost hundreds of millions of dollars, the newspaper said. The Air Transport Association (A.T.A.) has been working since last summer on the report to the Federal Aviation Administration (F.A.A.). Its release so soon after a 19-year-old Boeing 747 split open over the Pacific, killing nine people, was coincidental, the newspaper said. The victims were apparently sucked through a huge hole that suddenly appeared in the fuselage of United Airlines flight 811, enroute from Honolulu to Auckland.

Airlines worldwide h ave been advised to check the cargo doc 'rs of Boeing 747 jets as federal investig. ators focused on the cargo door latch sy stem. The United States Transportation Secretary, Samuel Skim ner, said: “The preliminary indications are that the cargo door opened or a: t least the skin peeled around the door.’

United Airlines annoi Jnced that it conducted detailed exam inations of all cargo doors in every plai ie in its fleet. Seven doors required repairs, the airline said, but a spokesman, . Rob Doughty, said none of the repairs v 'as urgent. The A.T.A. report says as ' many as 200 repairs must be made t o some 700 Boeing jets, including 747 s o 'f similar age and service record to the Ui lited 747 and to Boeing 727 s and 7375, th* s newspaper reported. It says about 100 repairs r> oust also be made on about 500 airliner s manufactured by McDonnell Douglas >, including its DC-8, DC-9 and DC-10 me 'dels.