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By TIM KLASS
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Federal Aviation Administration has toughened a requirement that Boeing 737 pilots be reminded not to ignore a cabin pressure warning horn, ordering preflight briefings as well as changes in manuals.
The airworthiness directive, issued Monday and effective Nov. 25, stems from a crash in which 121 people died Aug. 14, 2005, when a Helios Airways 737-300 slammed into a hillside north of Athens, Greece.
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The FAA's order applies to all Boeing 737s, the world's best-selling commercial jet with more than 6,000 orders since the model was introduced in 1965 and 5,397 in use worldwide, and takes effect in 120 days. Public notice and comment requirements were waived "because an unsafe condition exists that requires the immediate adoption" of the directive, according to the notice.
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After the FAA's initial directive, which largely incorporated Boeing's advisory note, the manufacturer began working on a change in the cockpit and flight-deck design to incorporate a warning light that will provide a second indication of cabin pressure loss when the horn sounds.
Within the next month or so, Boeing expects to have the change ready to incorporate into production of current models, the 737-700, -800 and -900, followed by production of retrofitting kits for earlier models a few months after that.
The FAA may propose further action to "address the unsafe condition" once the warning light kits are available, according to the airworthiness directive.
The complete article can be found here, while the relevant AD can be found here.
It will be interesting to see how quickly airlines implement the required changes, given the large number of aircraft involved - the entire fleet of Boeing 737s currently in use worldwide.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Federal Aviation Administration has toughened a requirement that Boeing 737 pilots be reminded not to ignore a cabin pressure warning horn, ordering preflight briefings as well as changes in manuals.
The airworthiness directive, issued Monday and effective Nov. 25, stems from a crash in which 121 people died Aug. 14, 2005, when a Helios Airways 737-300 slammed into a hillside north of Athens, Greece.
...
The FAA's order applies to all Boeing 737s, the world's best-selling commercial jet with more than 6,000 orders since the model was introduced in 1965 and 5,397 in use worldwide, and takes effect in 120 days. Public notice and comment requirements were waived "because an unsafe condition exists that requires the immediate adoption" of the directive, according to the notice.
...
After the FAA's initial directive, which largely incorporated Boeing's advisory note, the manufacturer began working on a change in the cockpit and flight-deck design to incorporate a warning light that will provide a second indication of cabin pressure loss when the horn sounds.
Within the next month or so, Boeing expects to have the change ready to incorporate into production of current models, the 737-700, -800 and -900, followed by production of retrofitting kits for earlier models a few months after that.
The FAA may propose further action to "address the unsafe condition" once the warning light kits are available, according to the airworthiness directive.
The complete article can be found here, while the relevant AD can be found here.
It will be interesting to see how quickly airlines implement the required changes, given the large number of aircraft involved - the entire fleet of Boeing 737s currently in use worldwide.
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