FAA inspectors find no 737 safety problems

Review ordered after crash in Indonesia

February 12, 1998
Web posted at: 8:01 p.m. EST (0101 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- An inspection of two Boeing aircraft factories -- conducted in the wake of a crash of a 737 in Indonesia last December -- turned up no problems that would affect flight safety, according to a report issued by the Federal Aviation Administration on Thursday.

However, the FAA did find 12 minor violations at Boeing plants in Renton, Washington and Wichita, Kansas. Its report said the inspections "strongly show that Boeing needs to develop and implement system improvements to prevent further recurrences of the conditions."

The inspections were ordered after the crash of a SilkAir 737 on the island of Sumatra that killed 104 people.

Investigators reported that bolts and screws might have been missing from the plane's tail section, raising concerns that there could have been lapses during the construction of the planes.

But after reviewing the operations of the two plants for 10 days, the FAA ruled out the production line as the cause of the missing fasteners.

"The bottom line in all of this is that there were no safety issues that came out of this," said Tom McSweeny, the FAA's director of aircraft certification.

Inspectors discovered a wiring problem on one plane under construction that, if not found, could have led to an electrical shortage. Among the other deficiencies cited were paperwork problems and bolts that were 0.008 of an inch too short. Some tests were also being performed without qualified inspectors in attendance.

Boeing corrected the deficiencies as soon as they were pointed out, McSweeny said. He said local FAA inspectors will perform follow-up inspections to make sure that any problems that were uncovered have been corrected.

Boeing could be fined for the problems that were found, but McSweeny said "we haven't gotten to that point yet."

Correspondent Christine Negroni and Reuters contributed to this report.

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