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Jet Fuel Tanks Declared Safe
W A S H I N G T O N, Aug. 16 -- A three-year study launched in the wake of the crash of TWA Flight 800 has concluded that airline fuel tanks are safe, industry trade groups said today.
”The world’s commercial aircraft fleet continues to be safe andthat includes the fuel systems,” said Robert Peel, director of airworthiness and technical standards of the Air TransportAssociation, the airline industry trade association.
He said more than 100,000 work hours were spent inspecting 990aircraft operated by 160 airlines as part of the program launchedin August 1997.
Questions about the safety of airline fuel tanks had been raisedduring the investigation of the crash of TWA Flight 800, whichexploded on July 17, 1996, crashing into the ocean off the coast ofNew York’s Long Island. All 230 aboard the Boeing 747 bound fromNew York to Paris were killed.
The cause of the disaster remains unsolved four years later andthe National Transportation Safety Board is scheduled to hold ameeting next week to discuss that question.
Tank Exploded, But Why? Investigators have determined that the plane’s center fuel tankexploded but have so far not reported the cause of that blast.
Speculation focused on a variety of possibilities includingstatic electricity, faulty wiring and vapor in the tank, so the ATAand the Aerospace Industries Association launched their study toassess the fuel systems.
Their report concludes that the fuel tank systems are soundlydesigned and do not degrade over time.
“After all of this work, we did not discover any major safetyproblems,” Peel said in a statement.
However, the report did note that there had been suggestionsthat the use of metal conduits to carry wiring through tanks mightresult in “degradation” of the wiring.
“This finding was confirmed during the inspection program andis being addressed accordingly,” the report said.
The group issued some suggestions for improvements, includingbetter maintenance instructions, periodic inspections for fuelquantity measurement wiring, periodic inspection of fuel pumps andtheir wiring, fuel lines and fittings and a review of the use ofmetal conduits in fuel tanks.
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