FAA Airbus Modification

FAA – Airbus Modification
USA Today

The Federal Aviation Administration is proposing that airlines modify hundreds of Airbus jets to reduce the chances that a fuel tank can explode.

The proposal is the latest in a string of similar actions taken after the fuel tank on TWA Flight 800 exploded. That explosion destroyed a Boeing 747 in 1996 and killed all 230 aboard the flight.

Fuel tank explosions have downed four large jets around the world.

Following the lead of French regulators, the FAA says it wants U.S. airlines flying the Airbus A320 and the similar A319 model to improve the devices that measure the fuel level in tanks to prevent them from sparking. The FAA also called for inspections of the tanks.

Airbus spokesman Clay McConnell says the chances of a spark were “extraordinarily remote.” No fuel tanks on an Airbus jet have exploded. But the company believes it can improve safety with the changes, McConnell says.

Last year and again in June, Airbus urged airlines to take the same steps as the FAA recommends. More than a thousand A320 jets and similar models are being flown worldwide.

The proposal would affect 468 jets in this country. The total cost to modify the jets would range from $600,000 to $3.3 million, depending on how much work is needed on each jet.

Under the FAA proposal, airlines must complete the work within 30 months. Many airlines have already begun the work, McConnell says.

The FAA announced Monday that it would accept comments on its proposal until Dec. 17. Typically, such proposals go into effect with little or no objection.

Sparks in fuel tanks are rare, and jet manufacturers take numerous steps to ensure that electrical failures cannot ignite the kerosene jet fuel.

But inspections of jets after the TWA accident showed that jets were more vulnerable than regulators and manufacturers had believed.

The FAA has already required more than 50 changes in fuel tanks, and officials say more changes are on the way.

The National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday listed fuel-tank safety as one of its “Most Wanted” safety improvements. The safety board wants the FAA to go beyond changes in tanks and wiring and require that tanks be blanketed in non-flammable gas to ensure that tanks can never explode.

Boeing has developed a system that pumps nitrogen gas, which prevents fuel from burning, into tanks. Airbus has tested a similar device. But the FAA has made no decision on whether to require the devices.

Fuel tanks are most flammable after they heat up. On many jet models, equipment located next to fuel tanks in the center of the fuselage give off heat. On summer days, they can quickly heat those center tanks to well over 100 degrees. The NTSB found that this occurred on TWA Flight 800.