The Nation - News from Sept. 13, 1985

The government ordered U.S. airlines to replace part of the mechanism that deploys the escape slide in Boeing 737s, the plane involved in a fatal accident in England last month. The directive was issued by the Federal Aviation Administration after an investigation into the Aug. 23 accident of a British Airtours 737 in Manchester, England. FAA spokesman Fred Farrar, calling the order a “precautionary measure,” said the domestic airlines must make the necessary modification by Oct. 15. The agency directed the carriers to replace the slide release cables in the 737s with longer cables.