BOEING TO MODIFY 737S TO PREVENT MALFUNCTIONS.Byline: James V. Grimaldi James V. Grimaldi is an investigative reporter with the Washington Post and was awarded the Pullitzer Prize for investigative reporting in 2006. and Byron Acohido The Seattle Times Vice President Al Gore Noun 1. Al Gore - Vice President of the United States under Bill Clinton (born in 1948) Albert Gore Jr., Gore announced Wednesday a plan to make major modifications to the rudders of all Boeing 737 jetliners to prevent malfunctions that can cause the aircraft to twist into a sudden nose dive nose dive Noun 1. (of an aircraft) a sudden plunge with the nose pointing downwards 2. Informal a sudden drop: when we fail our self-confidence takes a nose dive Verb . Gore outlined proposed Federal Aviation Administration Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), component of the U.S. Department of Transportation that sets standards for the air-worthiness of all civilian aircraft, inspects and licenses them, and regulates civilian and military air traffic through its air traffic control directives requiring Boeing to make four major rudder improvements, including redesigning and replacing within two years a flawed valve at the heart of the 737's rudder-control system. In Washington, D.C., Gore told a White House-sponsored aviation safety and security conference at George Washington University George Washington University, at Washington, D.C.; coeducational; chartered 1821 as Columbian College (one of the first nonsectarian colleges), opened 1822, became a university in 1873, renamed 1904. that the rudder changes emerged out of the investigations of two still-unsolved jetliner crashes: in Pittsburgh and Colorado Springs Colorado Springs, city (1990 pop. 281,140), seat of El Paso co., central Colo., on Monument and Fountain creeks, at the foot of Pikes Peak; inc. 1886. It is a year-round resort and a booming military, technological, and commercial city. , Colo. Although federal investigators have been unable to pinpoint a cause in either accident, Gore said the exhaustive investigations ``have identified improvements that could help eliminate the chance of rudders playing a role in future accidents.'' ``These changes should be made without delay,'' Gore said. ``And with today's announcement, they will be.'' Gore credited a plan developed by Boeing for Wednesday's announcement. ``Boeing has developed modifications of the rudders of older 737s that will improve safety,'' Gore said. ``And they are going to begin retrofitting those planes, largely at their own expense.'' The FAA's proposed directives affect more than 2,700 planes worldwide, including about 1,100 registered in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . Boeing spokesman Chet Ekstrand said Wednesday that Boeing would pay an estimated $50,000 per airplane for the upgrades, or about $135 million for the entire fleet. Airlines are expected to pay an additional $27 million in labor costs, he said. The rudder is the movable panel on the vertical tail that controls the direction of travel. It can sometimes swing ``hardover'' to one side - uncommanded by the pilot. Rudder hardovers are widely suspected of causing the 1991 crash of a United Airlines 737 in Colorado Springs, which killed 25 people, and the 1994 crash of a USAir 737 in Pittsburgh in which 132 died. Both accidents remain officially unsolved by the National Transportation Safety Board. |
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