NTSB Calls for Inspections of MD-11 Aircraft

The National Transportation Safety Board is suggesting that airlines be told to inspect MD-11 aircraft for signs of electrical trouble similar to that found in the wreckage of Swissair Flight 111.

The board said it was concerned by signs of heat damage and electrical arcing found by Canadian investigators in an overhead cockpit panel and the avionics circuit bay of the doomed plane.

Canadian authorities revealed at a news briefing Monday that they also had found chafed, cracked and broken wires around the cockpits of more than a dozen in-service MD-11s.

“Although the apparent electrical arcing on Swissair Flight 111 has not been determined to be a source of fire, and Swissair’s voluntary inspections of its MD-11 airplanes have not uncovered any serious discrepancies, the safety board is concerned about the recent discoveries,” NTSB Chairman James E. Hall wrote to Jane Garvey, administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration.

The board said the FAA should require an inspection of all MD-11s for wiring discrepancies around the cockpit overhead circuit panel and the avionics circuit breaker panel. It said the inspection should include examinations for loose wiring, inconsistent wire routings, broken bonding wires and chafed and cracked wire insulation.

The FAA has already ordered more limited inspections and repairs around the plane’s forward passenger doors and in an electrical switch in the cockpit.

There are 186 MD-11s in the worldwide fleet, of which roughly 65 are flown by U.S. airlines. While FAA orders do not apply to foreign-registered aircraft, aviation authorities typically follow each other’s safety recommendations.

The Swissair plane, bound to Geneva from New York, plunged into the ocean off Nova Scotia on Sept. 2. The crash occurred 16 minutes after the pilots reported smoke in the cockpit. All 229 aboard were killed.