FAA Orders Wiring Checks on Boeing 757s

The Federal Aviation Administration on Friday issued its second order in two days for checks of possible miswiring of aircraft emergency systems, requiring inspection of all Boeing 757 airliners.

The “air worthiness directive” gives airlines 72 hours to check whether cross-wiring in cargo holds might cause sprinklers to go on in the wrong cargo area in the event of a fire. The FAA said 205 of the 757s are in service worldwide.

The problem has been discovered in two of the aircraft, FAA spokesman Fred Farrar said. He added that no details were available on how the problem was found or on which airliners, but he said that neither involved an actual fire or accident.

Airlines flying 300 Boeing 737s were checking for cross-wiring of engine fire or vibration warning systems after an FAA order 48 hours earlier. That was prompted by speculation that faulty wiring might have misled a British pilot into shutting down his only good engine before the Sunday crash of a British Midland Airways 737 that killed 44 people.

The order involving 757s “is not really relevant to the British crash except that the subject is also miswiring,” Farrar said.