Safety Panel Urges Airlines to Install New Engine Part

Federal investigators, acting on evidence gathered in the crash of a Midwest Express DC-9 in Milwaukee, urged airlines Tuesday to replace an engine part on hundreds of jetliners with a newer, stronger part that has been available since the late 1970s.

The National Transportation Safety Board said the part--a series of spacers that separate the engine’s high-compressor rotors--broke apart in the right engine of the Midwest Express jetliner, causing an engine failure that led to the crash, killing all 31 people aboard Sept. 6.

The board said the spacers have failed in other incidents, one involving a Northwest Airlines Boeing 727 last January, in which an engine broke apart, and a second engine was damaged. The pilot made an emergency landing, and no one was injured.

Engine Problems

The safety board recommendation, which also urged the Federal Aviation Administration to require that the outdated spacers be replaced, is the latest in a series of problems for the Pratt & Whitney JT8D engine, the most widely used jet engine in the industry.

The board said the spacers should be replaced on more than 1,000 engines “as soon as practical” with a newer, stronger type of spacer that the manufacturer has made available since 1978. Aviation sources said about 12,000 of the engines are in operation, about half of them in the United States.

The board urged the FAA to require the newer spacers to be installed during the first opportunity that an engine is available in a maintenance facility, where the compressor can be taken apart.

FAA Weighs Decision

FAA spokesman Bob Buckhorn said no decision has been made on whether to go along with the safety board’s recommendation. Other aviation sources, who asked not to be identified, said the agency is seriously considering a directive ordering a replacement of the older spacers, which have been used for at least 20 years.