發信人: MDA ([[ 猛  禽 ]])    看板: Aero
日期: Thu May 10 09:33:02 2001
標題: 737 fuel pumps


Boeing repeats fuel pump advice to 737 operators

WASHINGTON, April 12 - A center fuel tank explosion on a Boeing 737
in Thailand has prompted a reminder from the aircraft giant to carriers
about
the proper operation of center tank fuel pumps, the company said on
Thursday.

"We're not going to mince around here," Boeing Co. spokeswoman Liz Verdier
said of a telex sent to 737 operators worldwide, reminding them not to run
fuel pumps when the center tank is low on fuel.

The reminder follows a report by U.S. and Thai safety investigators on
Wednesday that a center fuel tank explosion was what destroyed a Thai
Airways
Boeing 737 on the ground in Bangkok last month.

"It's precautionary," Verdier said of the Boeing action.

But sources said the Federal Aviation Administration would probably issue a

so-called airworthiness directive on the proper operation of 737 fuel tank
pumps to eliminate any possibility that the pumps could cause an explosion.


An FAA spokeswoman would not confirm that but said the agency was reviewing

the Boeing action and would issue a safety mandate for U.S. carriers if
necessary.

The cause of the Thai Airways blast, which killed a flight attendant and
injured seven other people, has not been determined, authorities said.

The jet's 149 passengers, including Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra,

had not yet boarded when flames engulfed the plane at a gate of Don Muang
International Airport in Bangkok.

NTSB ON BOARD

The National Transportation Safety Board is assisting Thai authorities with

their investigation. Boeing refused comment on specifics of the probe.

But sources familiar with the investigation said the fuel tank pumps on the

Thai plane had been running while the aircraft was on the ground for about
40
minutes, even though the tank was empty.

"We're not saying there was a problem with the pumps and that's what caused

the tank to explode," said Tim Neal, another Boeing spokesman when asked
about the telex. "But it is our recommended procedure to turn off the
pumps."

Investigators said recordings showed similarities between the Thai Airways
explosion and the center fuel tank blast in a taxiing Philippine Airlines
737
in 1990.

No cause of that explosion has been identified, but Boeing said a fuel pump

explanation had been ruled out.

"We do know that (the Philippines explosion) was not a fuel pump, but (the
Thai explosion) we don't know," Verdier said. "But they are achingly
similar,
so why take a chance?"

The twin-engine 737 aircraft also carries fuel in each wing.

Investigators noted this week that the Thai Airways jet's two
air-conditioning power units, located directly beneath the center fuel
tank,
had been running continuously while the plane was on the ground.

Those compressor units generate heat, and Boeing recommended last May that
operators of 737s and other aircraft use ground-based portable generators
to
power on-board air conditioning systems while planes are on the tarmac for
long periods of time in warm weather.
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* Origin: 中山大學-美麗之島BBS * From: 61.216.80.149 [已通過認證]
.