Air N.Z. jets found free of wiring faults

Press, 6 April 1989, Page 7

Air N.Z. jets found free of wiring faults

PA Wellington Air New Zealand has found no electrical or plumbing problems in its fleet of Boeing aircraft after volunteering to check after the United States Federal Aviation Administration issued a directive.

Crossed wiring or plumbing problems in fire warning and extinguishing systems have been found on 94 Boeing jetliners, most of them belonging to non-United States airlines. The F.A.A. said none of the problems directly affected the planes’ airworthiness, and all were corrected before the aircraft returned to service. On January 31 it ordered United States operators of Boeing jets to inspect for miswiring or misplumbing in fire warning and suppression sys-

tems in aircraft engines and cargo holds. This was prompted by the discovery of 32 such discrepancies in previous checks of Boeing planes. Many foreign carriers,

including Air New Zealand, followed suit voluntarily. The F.A.A. said of the 63 discrepancies found since the directive was issued, 36 were reported since the last update on March 10. Six were found on United States aircraft and 57 on foreign planes. An F.A.A. spokesman, Mr David Duff, had said the names of the foreign carriers would not be released because they reported voluntarily. However, an Air New Zealand public relations

spokesman, Mr Peter Taylor, said the airline had volunteered to check its craft and “no problems were found on any of its 7375, 747 s or 7675.” Air Canada has said it

found wiring problems on two of its 7675. Australian Airlines reported wrong connections bn fire extinguisher bottles on four of its 7375, and a Japanese television network reported last month problems were found on 19 747 s and 767 s run by Japan Air Lines and All Nippon Airways. A spokesman for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Mr Craig Martin, said yesterday an engineering solution was under final review at Boeing before submission to the F.A.A. for its approval.

The changes involved the wiring and plumbing connectors, to “physically differentiate the connectors so it will be much more difficult to connect them improperly.”