FAA to Step Up Wiring Inspections

Wiring and other operating systems on older aircraft will receive increased inspections under a program to be announced shortly by the Federal Aviation Administration. The crew of Swissair flight 111 reported smoke in the cockpit before their plane plunged into the Atlantic Ocean on Sept. 2, killing 229 people. Faulty or aged wiring has been suggested as a possible source for that smoke, though the cause of the disaster has yet to be determined. Wiring problems are also suspected in the explosion of TWA Flight 800 on July 17, 1996, which killed 230 people. FAA spokesman Les Dorr said the new inspection program will be announced in two to three weeks. The FAA now operates an aging-aircraft program that calls for increased inspections of the structure of older planes, usually those 20 years old and older.