FAA Expands Inspections of Older 737 Jetliners

The Federal Aviation Administration, in response to the mid-air disintegration of an Aloha Airlines jet last week, on Wednesday expanded its special inspections of older Boeing 737 aircraft for signs of structural flaws.

The inspectors will look closely at the several hundred 737s that were manufactured in part by the “cold bonding” process of joining the layers of an aircraft’s metal skin. Investigators now believe use of that method may have led to cracking.

“These (older 737) planes are just as safe as newer models, and if they were not they wouldn’t be allowed to fly,” FAA Administrator T. Allan McArtor said at a press briefing. Yet in light of the incident over Hawaii, he said: “it is time for an abundance of caution.”

The Aloha Airlines plane, which was 19 years old and had made 89,000 flights, was at 24,000 feet last Thursday when a 20-foot section of the upper fuselage ripped away. One flight attendant was sucked out of the aircraft and is presumed dead, and 61 passengers 2003137125land the plane safely.

Last weekend, the FAA ordered inspections of all Boeing 737s with more than 55,000 landings and limited such planes to flying no higher than 23,000 feet until they are found to be airworthy.

Explaining the decision to expand the inspections, the FAA said that while the cause of the damage has not yet been determined, “There have been several additional reports of corrosion, delamination and cracks found. . . .”

FAA officials would not elaborate further.