CAL to inspect two Boeing aircraft

(CNS): In the wake of an industry service order concerning aircraft inspection, Cayman’s national flag carrier says the bulletin is only applicable to two of its four Boeing 737-300 aircraft, and that inspections will be conducted on those planes well ahead of the required inspection timeline. The call comes following the incident involving Southwest Airlines in which a five foot opening developed in the fuselage of a Boeing B737-300 during a flight from Phoenix Arizona to Sacramento, California, on 1 April. The aircraft manufacturer has now stated that the planes need to be inspected before completing 30,000 flights rather than 60,000 as previously advised.

Cayman Airways CEO Fabian Whorms explained that because Cayman Airways’ aircraft have accumulated a low number of flight cycles (one take off-one landing) one aircraft requires inspection within 20 months and the other in 28 months, and that the Boeing Service Bulletin will be complied with well ahead of the required timeline when the two aircraft undergo scheduled heavy maintenance early in 2012.

The airline said that in addition to the its scheduled plan to meet the mandatory requirements early, Cayman Airways is currently conducting detailed visual inspections of its own in the defined areas on all four of its B737-300 aircraft as an added precautionary measure to supplement the mandated Boeing inspections.

“As always, Cayman Airways takes pride in upholding the highest standards of safety and security for our passengers and we are highly committed to maintaining constant compliance with all regulatory requirements,” he said.

Whorms added that the airline’s B737-300 aircraft are maintained to meet several applicable Manufacturer and Regulatory requirements, including those of the British Overseas Territories, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Cayman Islands (CAACI ), the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and Boeing.

Boeing said yesterday that its engineering and safety experts were caught off guard by the midair rupture in the fuselage of the Southwest Airlines jet. A senior company engineer said the five-foot tear in the aluminum skin of the 15-year-old Boeing 737 aircraft had led to the rapid decompression of the passenger cabin while the plane was cruising at 36,000 feet, but no one was seriously injured.

Boeing believed that older versions of its 737 could face serious cracking problems but didn’t think the risk would arise so early in their careers and had previously advised planes could make 60,000 flights before they needed to undergo inspections.

“Boeing’s engineering assumptions weren’t nearly as accurate as they thought, or as they should have been,” said Mark Rosenker, a former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the incident.