FAA extends scope of 737 inspections -  Older planes banned from
 carrying passengers until wiring checks completed
     WASHINGTON -- May 10, 1998 3:32 p.m. EDT  -- No U.S.-registered
 Boeing 737 with 50,000 or more flying hours will carry passengers
 until fuel tank wiring has been inspected for wear, the Federal
 Aviation Administration said Sunday.
     Based on inspection results gathered since the FAA issued a di-
 rective Thursday, the FAA early Sunday extended the fuel tank wiring
 inspections to all Boeing 737 models 100, 200, 300, 400 and 500, for
 planes in service at least 40,000 hours.
     The initial directive, issued Thursday, applied only to Boeing
 737-100 and 200 models with at least 40,000 flying hours.
     Any 737 with 50,000 or more flying hours cannot carry passengers
 until the inspections are complete and necessary repairs are made,
 Tom McSweeny, the FAA's Director of Aircraft Certification, told
 reporters on Sunday.
     Inspections on 737s with fewer than 50,000 flying hours must be
 completed within 14 days, McSweeny said.
     McSweeny emphasized that 737s in service have either been in-
 spected and found to be in compliance, or are not affected by the FAA
 airworthiness directive.
     "I can assure you that those airplanes affected by this air
 worthiness directive ... will not fly in revenue service until those
 inspections are completed."
     At issue are electrical lines that help pump fuel into the en-
 gines. The FAA wants to make sure that the wires are properly insu-
 lated, so that exposed wire does not come in contact with fuel or
 fuel vapors.
     The heat generated inside the fuel tank, combined with high
 voltage electricity, could lead to an explosive mixture under the
 right conditions, McSweeny said.
     The FAA acted Thursday after mechanics working on a Continental
 Airlines Boeing 737-200 found fuel leaking out of a pipe running
 through one of the plane's wing fuel tanks. Upon closer examination,
 the mechanics found that the fuel got into the tubing through holes
 that were apparently made by electrical arcing. The aircraft was
 subsequently grounded, repaired and returned to service.
     FAA and Boeing officials determined that fuel got into the pipe
 through two pin-sized holes. The officials suspect those holes were
 caused by electrical arcing within the pipe, creating an atmosphere
 of air, fuel and electricity that could spark a fuel tank explosion
 like that suspected of downing TWA Flight 800, in which 230 people
 were killed in 1996.
     While investigators still have not determined what caused that
 crash, they suspect electricity from wiring around the Boeing 747's
 center fuel tank may have sparked an explosion.
     The FAA wants to make sure the 737s with 40,000 or more hours
 in service have a double layer of Teflon coating on the wires, in
 addition to the insulation. Until now, wires were only required to
 have one teflon coating.
     McSweeny said the inspections are part of an aggressive program,
 announced in November, to ensure fuel tank safety on all aircraft in
 service in the United States.
     He added that he is confident other governments will pick up on
 the seriousness of the safety concern and make sure their in-service
 aircraft undergo similar inspections.
     The inspections affect a maximum of 179 U.S.-registered 737s
 with 50,000 or greater flying hours, he said. About another 118 of
 the aircraft fall in the range of 40,000 to 50,000 flying hours.
 Another 196 of the older model planes are in service worldwide.
 McSweeny said the FAA apologized to any travelers who might be
 affected by flight delays that stem from having some aircraft
 temporarily out of service. But, he added, the FAA expected the
 inspections on the older aircraft to be completed within four to
 five days. "The number one priority for the FAA is safety,"
 McSweeny said.
     The figures on the number of aircraft affected by the directive
 were based on January data, and were revised upward from figures
 given out on Thursday, he added.
     The inspections order issued Thursday gave operators seven days
 or five flight hours to inspect two sets of fuel pump electrical
 lines in each wing of Boeing 737-100 and 200 model planes. Among the
 early findings was that only one type of power line, instead of two,
 needed to be checked. Cutting the workload in half should enable air
 carriers to complete the inspections faster, McSweeny said.
     Since Thursday, operators have completed inspections on 13 of
 the older model 737s and found about half had damaged wiring that
 required additional insulation, McSweeny told reporters. One wiring
 bundle on a United Airlines 737 showed "clear signs" of wear in one
 location and on a second spot where bare wire already was exposed,
 McSweeny said.
     That aircraft had been in service a little over 60,000 hours, he
 added. McSweeney added that 747s are not affected because an air-
 worthiness directive issued in the early 1980s already required
 those aircraft to have the extra teflon coating on the fuel tank
 wires.
     He also said that in the future, the FAA will require routine
 inspections of fuel tank wiring in all 737s. Recommendations for
 that inspection schedule will be based on the findings from the
 inspections currently under way. There are about 1,088 Boeing 737s
 registered in the United States and 2,716 worldwide, the FAA said.
 The 737 has a fuel tank under each wing.
     Officials at Southwest Airlines, which flies 35 Boeing 737-200s
 on its domestic routes, told CNN their inspections would be
 completed by Sunday afternoon.
     Southwest "experienced little or no disruption of service,"
 said spokeswoman Kristie Kerr.
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