747 Fuel Tank Checks Urged By Boeing Fit Inspection Into Routine Maintenance, Carriers Told In Move Tied To Twa Explosion

Boeing is urging airlines to voluntarily inspect the center fuel tanks on all 747 jumbo jets in service to look for potential sources of sparks.

The inspections are part of the ongoing investigation into the explosion of TWA Flight 800 last July 17. All 230 people aboard were killed.

“We and the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) agree that it would be beneficial to provide additional information on the condition of the fuel system equipment,” Boeing spokesman Doug Webb said Thursday night.

Earlier this month, FBI Director Louis Freeh said investigators were leaning strongly toward mechanical failure, and not a terrorist bomb, as the likely cause of the crash.

Freeh said the FBI and the National Transportation Safety Board hope to release their final report on the crash by mid- or late summer.

It has been determined that the center fuel tank of the plane exploded, but no one as yet knows why. In a Thursday letter to Boeing supporting the inspections, Donald Riggin, manager of the FAA’s Seattle Aircraft Certification Office, said the FAA “is not aware of ignition sources internal to the center tank that could have led to the center tank explosion.”

There are about 1,000 747s in use around the world and operators were notified about the recommended inspections on Thursday, Webb said.

The inspections are set to begin in June. Boeing is urging airlines to fit the inspections into regularly scheduled maintenance.

In his letter, Riggin wrote that “these inspections should be aggressively pursued and that further discussions between Boeing and the FAA are needed to establish an acceptable schedule for the inspections.”

Riggin said he expects the FAA will have some of its people take part in the inspections, and that all information developed will be promptly shared with the NTSB.