P.M. BRIEFING : U.S. Airlines Ordered to Modify Aging Jets to Boost Airworthiness

Federal authorities today announced requirements that U.S. airlines make extensive modifications on older Boeing 727s, 737s and 747s, marking a major change in the government’s approach to the safety of aging airliners.

The Federal Aviation Administration issued a series of proposed “airworthiness directives” that initially will affect 115 airliners, requiring $142 million in modifications.

“The action marks a fundamental change in FAA’s philosophy for maintaining the airworthiness of older aircraft,” the agency said in announcing the directives that are expected to become final in late summer.

The action was prompted by the April, 1988, accident in which a Boeing 737 with nearly 90,000 flights lost an 18-foot section of its fuselage in a flight over Hawaii. A flight attendant died. The aircraft then landed without any other fatalities.

Investigators found that the plane’s fuselage had worn out, and a series of regular inspections were ordered on all aging airliners.