NATIONAL Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), chairman Jim Hall has criticised the US Federal Aviation Administration, for rejecting the Boards call for an immediate upgrade, of Boeing 737 flight data recorders (FDRs).
Proposed new rules about the retrofit of modern FDRs on commercial passenger-carrying aircraft will soon be issued by the aviation agency. US airlines may be required to install enhanced FDRs, which register flight-control inputs and surface positions, on more than 4,000 aircraft, including 1,000 Boeing 737s. The NTSB had wanted the FAA to order a Boeing 737 FDR upgrade by last December.
Hall says that the draft notice of proposed rule-making being circulated by the FAA calls for comprehensive FDR upgrades for passenger aircraft during heavy maintenance within four years of the effective date of the final rule.
He says that the 737 deadline will not be pushed forward, despite safety concerns resulting from mysterious crashes in 1991 and 1994. "The safety board believes a three- to five-year delay in adequately monitoring the 737 rudder system is unacceptable," says Hall. He also says that the expedited 737 retrofit "is within the economic grasp and maintenance schedule capabilities of the aviation industry".
FAA Administrator David Hinson says that the head of the Safety Board is welcome to express an opinion, which might be counter to the Administration's assessment of the economic impact on US airlines.
Source: Flight International
