Word: crashing
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...less important to television viewers than whether the big broadcast fulfills its implicit annual promise to turn into a psychological Le Mans with a few expensive, finely tuned egos successfully negotiating the twists and turns of the three-hour course while a satisfying number of the other entrants crash. There was nothing this year to equal the spectacular flame-out that Marlon Brando arranged in 1973, but a dedicated Oscar addict could pass out a few prizes...
After weeks of investigation, French and U.S. officials believe that they have pinned down the cause of history's worst air disaster: the March 3 crash of a Turkish Airlines DC-10 just outside Paris that killed 346 people. An improperly sealed rear cargo door burst open in midair, and the loss of pressure in the cargo hold caused the plane's still-pressurized passenger cabin to buckle downward into the cargo compartment (see diagram). Passengers began spilling out of the plane, control cables to the rudder and stabilizers were fouled, and the plane crashed into a forest...
...cargo door come open? Investigators are not yet certain, but some suspect that it was possible for the door to appear fully locked when it was not. The events leading up to the crash, as disclosed in subsequent investigations that culminated in two days of congressional hearings last week, make a story almost as shocking as the disaster itself-and much more mysterious. It raises disturbing questions about the safety procedures at McDonnell Douglas, the maker of the DC-10, and about the practices of Government aviation safety regulators. The story in brief...
That is startling indeed. Until the crash, both the DC-10 and its maker had enjoyed high reputations. The DC-10 went into service in August 1971, and had a safety record above average for a relatively new aircraft. Thirty-one airlines now fly a total of 128 DC-10s; passengers praise the craft as spacious and quiet, and the FAA says that they are all safe (the agency finally issued its airworthiness directive about cargo doors on March 6, three days after the Turkish Airlines disaster...
With the windup of the congressional hearings, the matter now moves to the courts. Relatives of two victims in the Paris crash have filed suits against McDonnell Douglas asking damages of $10 million. More suits are expected. The trials may force out answers to the remaining mysteries in the case-especially the question of why McDonnell Douglas records showed a door modification that had never been made...