Airline to Outfit Fleet With New Warning System

American Airlines, in a move other major airlines are expected to follow, is outfitting its fleet with new early warning devices designed to prevent accidents like the December crash of a jetliner on a Colombia mountainside, company spokesman John Hotard said Wednesday.

And in another development on airline safety, the National Transportation Safety Board in Washington recommended that all Boeing 737s should get upgraded equipment to guard against possible rudder failure suspected in two unsolved crashes.

The early warning device, made by AlliedSignal of Morris Township, N.J., not only warns when a plane is getting too close to the ground but also senses terrain in front of the plane. Hotard said the devices give pilots more time to react.

“It tells you 60 seconds before impact how close you are,” he said. Current systems provide less than 30 seconds.

Installation of the Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System is supposed to begin Nov. 4 and be finished sometime in 1999. Alaska Airlines also plans to install the new system.

If the FAA concurs with the NTSB recommendations for Boeing 737s, Boeing and the airlines would be required to develop and install cockpit indicators for rudder positions and movements on the 2,800 of those jets in fleets around the world and on new 737s.

Such a development could cost the airline industry and Boeing tens of millions of dollars.

After investigations into unsolved crashes in Pennsylvania and Colorado, many safety experts have theorized about rudder problems, but proof has not emerged.

The FAA has 90 days to respond to the recommendations.

Boeing spokesman Tim Neale said the rudder system already has been redesigned for 737s in production. The change was needed because the new aircraft is bigger, not because of safety shortcomings, he said.