Claris Law Legal Blogging Community

Editor: James T. Crouse
Profession: Aviation Accident Attorney

Category: Aviation Safety

United Airlines Flight 27 from New York to Los Angeles made an emergency landing at Virginia's Dulles International on Sunday due to a fire in the cockpit. The fire was extinguished prior to landing and no injuries were reported.

For a long time, the Boeing 757 has had known problems with the heating system in a cockpit window and investigators are looking into whether this was a factor in the fire.

One of the passengers, sitting in the second row, stated she smelled smoke about 30 minutes into the flight and then the cockpit door opened and the captain requested a fire extinguisher. The first cabin filled with smoke.

After landing at Dulles, the passengers remained seated until a firefighter came on board to open the cockpit door. Once the door was open, the passengers were able to see the windshield was completely cracked and shattered.

The NTSB is investigating to determine it this incident was due to a recurring problem involved in previous 757 cockpit fires, or a new issue. In 2007, the NTSB recommended to the FAA that airlines be required to replace the heat terminal block on all Boeing 747s, 757s, 767s, and 777s.

In March of 2008, the FAA proposed a rule that gave airlines a choice of regularly inspecting the heat terminal blocks or replacing then - the Boeing 747 was not included in the FAA proposed order. The airlines strongly opposed the order and it hasn't been made final even though the FAA said in 2008 it was aware of nine incidents of electrical arcing at the terminal blocks and "more than one incident" of open flames.

So Frieda wonders who exactly is in charge? The NTSB recommends changes which will add to aviation safety based on their accident investigations - the FAA will eventually get around to considering these recommendations and sometimes proposes a rule - the airline rejects the rule and it sits on a desk at the FAA gathering dust, not being acted upon. This makes no sense.

Frieda's thinking this is similar to a parent telling a child, "I know it's dangerous when you do 'so and so', so I'm considering not allowing you to that, the child pitches a fit, the parent then shelves the idea and the child is left alone to do as he/she wishes. Sound familiar?

All planes made since 2005 have used a different wiring system which Boeing is confident has solved the problem.