Word: ntsb
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...crash seems certain to lead to a broader and deeper investigation, going all the way back to the initial design of the DC-10 by McDonnell Douglas Corp. and its certification by the FAA. The Government's recommendations about the DC-10 will largely depend on what the NTSB's crash detectives eventually find to be the "probable cause" of Flight 191's crash. The accident left no survivors to interview, and the cockpit voice recorder disclosed only two sounds after the routine checklist readings: an unexplained thud and the single word "Damn!" shouted by the pilot...
...days, the NTSB put all of the blame on a broken bolt that searchers found beside the runway. It was one of five that held the pylon to the wing, and officials thought it had snapped because of "metal fatigue"-the progressive weakening that results from repeated stress. One investigator even christened it "the murdering bolt." But electron microscope studies showed the bolt had been broken by a sudden, violent strain. Meanwhile, a crack had been found in the plate that formed the aft bulkhead...
...probe went on, the NTSB asked the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to study the long-term effects of vibration and acoustics on engine pod and pylon attachments in all superjets, including those flown by the Air Force. If the NTSB eventually finds the DC-10 pylons are too weak, it could recommend that the plane be grounded again until they are strengthened or replaced, and the FAA most likely would issue such an order...
Taped Voice. By law, the NTSB cannot order the FAA to take action, but it can prod hard. On Oct. 8, NTSB Chairman John H. Reed sent Butterfield an official letter about the "unprofessional conduct" demonstrated by a few U.S. flight crews. To document his concern, Reed cited a number of horrifying incidents resulting from sloppy flying in recent years-a DC-9 striking the water and then bouncing safely into the air while nearing Martha's Vineyard; airliners running into trees, cottages and a sea wall while approaching airports; a DC-9 hitting the runway so hard...
...conscientious and energetic man, Butterfield is respected by his peers on the NTSB and by the pilots themselves for his attempts to crank some new life into the sluggish and unwieldly bureaucracy he inherited. "If we can get tough, tough as hell," he says, "and not favor any segment of the aviation community, we are going to gain the respect we deserve." On that point, Butterfield clearly has the firm support of a constituency of nearly half a million Americans -the number that fasten their seat belts daily in U.S. airliners...