yahoo

Wednesday October 11 2:04 AM ET Old Jets Flying with Wiring Cracks-USA Today

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Aging aircraft may be flying with thousands of cracks in their electrical wiring, USA Today reported on Wednesday, citing its own analysis of a Federal Aviation Administration (news - web sites) report to be released later in the day.

Damaged wire insulation has led to fires and electrical equipment failures for years in military and commercial aircraft, according to Air Force, Navy and FAA documents.

The new report was put together by an FAA task force that hired electrical engineers to test wiring on six jets, each at least 20 years old.

A Boeing 747, an Airbus A300, a Lockheed L-1011 and two DC-9s had been retired by airlines within six months of the inspections, and a DC-10 was being converted to a cargo aircraft, USA Today reported.

The FAA report found there were at least four cracks exposing bare wire in every 1,000 feet of wire tested on the wide body L-1011, according to the newspaper.

USA Today said it calculated that an L-1011 jet could have more than 3,100 wiring cracks, based on aircraft manufacturers' statements that a wide body jet contained at least 150 miles of wiring.

``This is shocking evidence that reinforces the seriousness of the situation and should be alarming to the traveling public,'' the paper quoted Rep. Tillie Fowler, a Florida Republican, as saying. ``Time is of the essence for the FAA to move forward to solve the problems.''

The FAA had no comment. Its report is due to be presented Wednesday afternoon to a joint FAA-airline industry committee.

``Not every crack will cause a problem, but every crack could cause some type of problem,'' Vince Press, a spokesman for Lectromec, which tested wiring for the task force, told the paper.

``A crack could cause the aircraft to receive a spurious signal or result in an electrical noise. It could also cause a spark or an electrical arc that may not cause any problem at all. Or it could cause a fire that knocks out an aircraft's vital systems,'' the paper quoted Press as saying.

As of last month, U.S. airlines were operating 1,709 jets that are at least 20 years old, according to Christine Francoeur, president of Jet Information Services, which publishes the World Jet Inventory. Worldwide, airlines were operating 3,270 jets that old, she says.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), October 11, 2000