Jan 24 1980
From The Space Library
The Washington Star reported that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had declared the basic design and certification process of the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 satisfactory, but had fined the manufacturer $300,000 for poor control of quality during the manufacture of DC-10 engine mounting pylons. The National Transportation Safety Board blamed American Airlines maintenance procedures for allegedly cracking one such pylon on a DC-10 that failed over Chicago May 25, 1979, causing a crash in which 273 persons died. McDonnell Douglas agreed to pay the fine, denied any wrongdoing, and said it was accepting the fine "to avoid further expense and the disruption of business." After the Chicago crash, Transportation Secretary Neil Goldschmidt asked the National Academy of Sciences to investigate procedures used by the FAA to certify planes [see December 12, 1979]. The academy named a committee of its National Research Council (NRC) to handle the investigation. Jack D. Howell of the Airline Pilots Association (APA) told investigators that a "protective relationship" between the FAA and the manufacturers had allowed the companies to "use their own employees as FAA-designated representatives" to oversee plane design and production. In discussing the FAA report, FAA Administrator Langhorne Bond defended the procedure for certifying planes. (W Star, Jan 24/80, A-7)
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