For Immediate Release

Tuesday, October 8, 2002

Contact: Jim Berard

(202) 225-6260

 

 

Oberstar Praises FAA Actions on 737 Rudders,

Crash-Resistant Seats

 

==============================

WASHINGTON—The ranking Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee had good words today for the Federal Aviation Administration’s moves to increase aviation safety by ordering improvements to rudders on Boeing 737 airliners and moving ahead with a rule to strengthen passenger seats on large commercial jets.

 

On Monday, October 7, the FAA published a final rule that requires airlines flying B-737 jets to install a newly designed rudder control system.  About 2,000 aircraft registered in the U.S., and 3,500 more world-wide, are affected by the order.  The modification must be made within six years.

 

“This is a landmark step in aviation safety,” said Oberstar, former chairman of the Aviation Subcommittee and the recognized expert on aviation safety in Congress.  “The B-737 is one of the most widely used commercial jets in the world.   This modification in the rudder control system may prevent future accidents and spare hundreds of lives.”

 

The modification requirement follows a year-long study of the rudder control systems on B-737 jetliners.  The study was triggered by findings that two fatal crashes involving B-737 jets, United Flight 585 at Colorado Springs in 1991 and US Airways Flight 427 near Pittsburgh in 1994, were caused by rudder anomalies.  The new upgrade is designed to add redundancy to the jets’ rudder control systems and make them more reliable.

 

Oberstar also praised the FAA for moving ahead with an effort to have stronger passenger seats installed on airliners.   The agency issued a Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rule-Making (SNPRM) announcing its intention to require passenger jets to be fitted with seats that can withstand a force 16 times the force of gravity (16 g’s).  Most seats on commercial jets are rated to withstand a force of nine g’s.

 

MORE…

 

 

 

OBERSTAR/RUDDERS

ADD ONE

October 8, 2002

 

Under the proposed rule, manufacturers would have four years to install the seats on all newly built aircraft.  Airlines would be allowed to refit their planes during scheduled maintenance, which could take as long as 14 years to replace all the seats in the entire commercial jet fleet.

 

“I have been an advocate for the 16-g standard for airline seats for many years,” Oberstar said.  “I am pleased that the FAA is now moving forward on this issue, but this is just the beginning of a very long process.  I urge the FAA to find a way to shorten the timeline and not make the flying public wait another 14 years for this needed safety improvement.”

 

The stronger seats will help lessen the chances of death or injury if a plane is involved in a survivable crash, such as that of United Airlines Flight 232 at Sioux City, Iowa, in 1989, or the crash of American Airlines Flight 1420 at Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1999.

 

 

 

###