Tue, May 13, 2003
Inspector Says He Was There Before Flight 5481 Crashed
It's
an embarrassing situation - one that could have career implications
for a particular FAA inspector. Jerry Unruh was supposed to have
inspected a maintenance provider subcontracted for the airline by
Raytheon. Unruh was supposed to have inspected the subcontractor in
Huntington (WV) twice before US Airways Express Flight 5481 crashed
upon take-off at Charlotte-Douglas Airport Jan. 8. He was supposed
to have inspected the West Virginia facility at least once after
that. But FAA documents obtained by The Charlotte Observer
indicate otherwise.
Re-entered Records
Unruh told The Observer he remembers traveling from his
home base in Wichita (KS) to Structureal Modification And Repair
Technicians before the Huntington facility started taking
sub-contractor work from Raytheon. But when The Charlotte
Observer asked the FAA for records of the visits prior to the
Jan. 8 crash, administration officials couldn't produce them.
Instead, the paper reports, Unruh apparently went back into the
FAA computer and entered information from the inspections on May 2
- after he had been interviewed by reporters. When asked about
pre-dating that inspection report, Unruh refused comment.
Two days after Flight 5481 crashed, killing all 21 on board, FAA
inspectors did make a documented visit to the SMART plant. There, a
mechanic who worked on the Beech 1900 told them he remembered
adjusting the commuter's control cables, but expected his
supervisor to check the work before the aircraft was sent back into
service. That supervisor check was apparently never made. The last
flight of the Beech 1900 was its first fully-loaded flight since
the cables had been adjusted.
Now, the NTSB is focused on those very control cables, as the
board conducts a public hearing on the Charlotte crash May 20.
Board members will also hear from expert witnesses who believe the
load on board 5481 exceeded the Beech 1900's 17,120 gross
maximum.
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