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Boeing 777 Safety Tests Questioned

Jan. 19, 1996

SEATTLE (AP) - Some federal aviation specialists are questioning the safety of the Boeing 777, saying it was rushed into service without adequate testing to make sure a break in a fan blade wouldn't cause dangerous engine vibrations, Business Week reported.

Boeing strongly disputed the story in the magazine's Jan. 29 issue, which came out Thursday.

The company's stock fell $2 to $76.75 on the New York Stock Exchange this morning as investors reacted to the news.

The first plane designed entirely with computer-aided techniques, the Boeing 777 was certified April 19 by the Federal Aviation Administration and quickly achieved widespread popularity as a long-haul aircraft.

The 777 is already in use on United's daily London-Washington, D.C., flights, and several foreign airlines have ordered them, including Malaysia Airlines, which ordered 15 777s this month. Depending on which version of the 777 is ordered and what seat layout is chosen, it can carry roughly 300 to 550 passengers.

In a statement, the FAA says the plane is safe. But the magazine quotes dissenting FAA engineers and inspectors as saying that the federal agency bowed to pressure from Boeing to get the plane into service in time to avoid costly penalties.

''It's an issue of safety,'' one unidentified FAA specialist was quoted as saying. ''It could lead to catastrophe.''

Brian Ames, a spokesman in Everett for Boeing Co., disputed that assessment.

''We specifically tested for the fan blade stability issue and ruled it out as a problem,'' Ames said.

Broken blades on fans in jet engines have been reported in 24 airliners since 1990, none resulting in a crash, but the effect might be more serious in the 777 because its fan blades are unusually large, the article said.

''Numerous FAA engineers and inspectors fear that if one of those giant blades were to break in flight, tremendous vibrations could occur that might severely destabilize the plane,'' Business Week said.

Some believe the cockpit might shake so hard that pilots would be unable to read their instruments, it said.

Other Boeing officials refused to comment on the article, Business Week reported. Ames said the magazine rejected ''an opportunity for background briefings'' on the certification process.

''It's unfortunate that Business Week would publish an article with conclusions based on innuendo, hearsay and anonymous sources,'' Ames said.

Thomas McSweeney, FAA's director aircraft certification, said the Boeing 777 ''met every regulation that it was required to meet.''

A statement issued by the FAA in Washington said ''the testing and analysis of the Boeing 777 was unprecedented in its scope and breadth.''

''The certification process for this aircraft exceeded 125,000 staff hours by technical experts at the FAA. The agency maintains complete confidence in the certification,'' said Sandra Allen, assistant FAA administrator for public affairs. She refused to answer questions.

Unlike other long-haul aircraft that use four engines, the Boeing 777 has two. They are the largest ever made for a commercial plane, and thus have unusually heavy fan blades - 48 pounds in the largest configuration, more than triple the weight of the same component in Boeing 747 engines.

One Business Week source was quoted as saying Boeing performed only the ''bare minimum requirements'' to determine how the plane would perform after one of the huge fan blades broke.

The article said FAA regulations do not specifically require much of that such data, however.

Ames said he didn't know how much time was devoted to fan blade destabilization testing.