RE: Boeing faulty fuel pumps
US airlines have been ordered to inspect more than 1,400 Boeing jets to see if they have a potentially faulty fuel pump which could lead to an explosion.
The pumps could have a problem with wires that were placed too close to a rotor and can chafe – although there have been no serious incidents yet, the US Federal Aviation Authority said.
The FAA – which oversees the airline industry in the US – insists that the travelling public need not be alarmed.
The pumps were installed in January and April by a California company on Boeing 737s, 747s and 757s.
The airlines involved have been given four days to inspect their fleets.
Fuel order
The order affects 515 of the 737s, 247 of the 747s, and 678 of the 757s operated by US airliners.
Foreign airlines, which operate about 2,100 of the Boeing jets, are also being warned to check their planes.
Ron Wojnar, the FAA’s deputy director of aircraft, said any airlines with the pumps are being ordered to keep enough fuel in the tanks to cover the devices, even when the planes bank or encounter turbulence in flight.
Mr Wojnar said the submersion would prevent any sparks from igniting fuel vapours.
“This is not an unsafe condition,” he said.
The alarm was raised by British carrier easyJet which detected that pumps had stopped working, giving the crew an indication of low pressure in the tank, said FAA spokesman Les Dorr.
A week later, a Northwest Airlines 747-400 reported a low pressure indication and found the same problem, he said. A China Southern Airlines 747-400 experienced the same trouble.
The National Transportation Safety Board has ruled that an explosion in the centre fuel tank of TWA Flight 800 caused it to crash off the coast of Long Island in 1996.
It said vapours in the nearly empty tank probably were ignited by a spark in wiring.
The Paris-bound Boeing 747 exploded in a fireball at 13,700 feet (4,175 metres), minutes after leaving John F. Kennedy International Airport. All 230 people on board were killed.
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