"Tiny scratches on planes raising red flags"

Thursday, October 28, 2004

Boeing, FAA check planes for scratches
The Associated Press


WASHINGTON - Boeing Co. and federal safety officials are investigating tiny
scratches on some older jetliners to see if they're evidence of a
potentially dangerous problem with the outer shells. 

The scratches, or scribe marks, occur when a plane is prepared for
repainting, said Jim Proulx, a Boeing spokesman. Workers scrape off a
sealant used on the joints that hold together sections of the aircraft's
aluminum skin. 

The scribe marks might lead to deeper cracks that can spread, potentially
leading to an uncontrolled decompression that strips off pieces of the skin,
according to an FAA safety bulletin late last year. 

Proulx said Boeing will issue a bulletin to airlines this year telling them
to inspect planes once they've taken off and landed about 4,500 times since
being repainted. An inspection involves taking the paint off along the
joints to make sure there's no scribing, he said. 

The Federal Aviation Administration might following up with an order to
inspect repainted planes and to repair them if cracks are found, agency
spokeswoman Diane Spitaliere said. 

The problem came to light during routine maintenance last October, she said.
Inspections began on about 80 aging jetliners that had been painted in the
last few years. Only two jetliners have been found with cracks. 

Meanwhile, about 60 planes from Boeing have been found with scribe marks,
Proulx said. The vast majority are 737s, the world's most popular plane with
about 2,800 in service. Also, scribe marks have been found on a few 747s,
one 757 and one 767 jetliner. 

Planes with scribe marks were permitted back in service, but they must be
inspected every 250 flight hours to make sure the scratches don't become
cracks, Spitaliere said. For the 737, that works out to about once a month.


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