All New Planes Must Include Systems Within 2 Years

ANN REALTIME UPDATE 07.16.08 1300 EDT: Confirming earlier reports, on Wednesday the Department of Transportation issued a mandate requiring all new aircraft to include technology designed to significantly reduce the risk of center fuel tank fires within two years. In addition, passenger aircraft built after 1991 must be retrofitted with technology designed to keep center fuel tanks from catching fire.

"We want to do everything possible to make sure safety examiners won’t have to investigate another plane shattered by an exploding tank," said US Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters during her announcement of the final rule, along with Acting FAA Administrator Robert Sturgell. "We can’t change the past, but we can make the future safer for thousands of air travelers, and this rule does just that."

The Secretary -- speaking the day before the 12th anniversary of the crash of TWA Flight 800, which prompted the requirement -- said the new rule was needed to help avoid a similar incident. The rule requires aircraft to have technology to neutralize or eliminate flammable gasses from fuel tanks under the center wing of commercial passenger planes.

Peters noted in the wake of the TWA crash researchers with the Federal Aviation Administration developed a system that replaces oxygen in the fuel tank with inert gas, which effectively prevents the potential ignition of flammable vapors. Boeing also has developed a similar system.

"Today’s rule will add another layer of safety reducing the chance that the vapors in the tank will ignite, even if there is a spark," added Sturgell.

NTSB Chairman Mark Rosenker also lauded the DOT's action. "The NTSB congratulates the DOT and the FAA on this important safety achievement," he said. "From tragedy we draw knowledge to improve safety and today's announcement represents a significant step toward avoiding future aviation accidents of this nature."

Acknowledging strong protests over the past decade from airlines, which argued the system's cost was too expensive, Peters noted the prictag of installing the new technology would range from $92,000 to $311,000 per aircraft, depending on the aircraft's size. Peters (below) noted that's as little as one-tenth of one percent of the cost of a new aircraft.

US aircraft that will be retrofitted include approximately 2,730 aircraft -- including 900 Airbus A320 Family airplanes, 50 A330s, 965 Boeing 737s, 60 Boeing 747s, 475 Boeing 757s, 150 Boeing 767s and 130 Boeing 777s.

"I recognize that this is a challenging time for commercial aviation," Secretary Peters said. "But there is no doubt that another crash like TWA 800 would pose a far greater challenge."

Peters made the announcement while addressing accident investigators at the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) Training Facility in Virginia, where remains of the TWA Boeing are kept as an educational tool for safety investigators.

Original Report

0001 EDT: Using the wreckage of TWA Flight 800 as a backdrop, the Department of Transportation will announce Wednesday that nearly all commercial airliners operating in the United States must be fitted with fuel inerting devices within 10 years.

The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board announced the rare joint safety briefing Tuesday, but provided few details.

USA Today reports the DOT will make the formal announcement in the Virginia hangar housing wreckage from the Boeing 747-100 that exploded off Long Island on July 17, 1996, killing all 230 onboard. The NTSB determined the airliner was brought down by an explosion caused by fumes in the 747's near-empty center tank.

When it made that determination in 2000, the NTSB also stated most other large airliners were susceptible to such explosions, and recommended all jets be equipped with systems to stop fuel tank fires. That plan was sharply criticized by airlines, which said such measures would be prohibitively expensive.

A debate has raged ever since between government officials and airline representatives. A comparatively cheaper alternative to tank extinguishers was developed in 2002, in which tanks could be flooded with nitrogen to prevent explosive fumes from forming... but despite a 2004 FAA order calling for such systems to be installed within seven years, little has been done to enforce that rule.

The Office of Management and Budget reportedly approved the fuel tank rule last month, according to the paper. It will apply to all large airliners built after 1991 in commercial service.

ANN will update this story as more information becomes available.

FMI: Read The Final Rule