Emery report Tuesday

A report on the investigation of the Emery Worldwide Airlines Flight 17 crash is scheduled to go before the National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday in Washington, D.C.

The DC-8 airliner crashed on Feb. 16, 2000, in Rancho Cordova, Calif., two minutes after takeoff on a flight bound for its Dayton hub. The crash killed its three-man crew and carved a fiery swath through a closed auto-auction yard that had been occupied by hundreds of people hours earlier.

NTSB officials investigating the crash in 2001 said it raised questions about maintenance practices by Emery and its repair contractor, Tennessee Technical Services of Smyrna, Tenn., as well as Emery's oversight of contractor maintenance.

They said it also raised questions about the Federal Aviation Administration's oversight of Emery.

The NTSB's investigation focused on a bolt investigators said was missing from the airplane's flight control system. A hearing in May 2002 revealed Emery mechanics inspected or worked on the jet's tail, where the bolt was later found missing, at least twice at its Dayton hub before it crashed.

Emery grounded its airline fleet on Aug. 13, 2001, when the FAA threatened to revoke its license for 100 alleged safety violations unearthed in a series of inspections dating from January 2000, a month before the crash.

In December 2001, parent company CNF Inc. of Palo Alto, Calif., reorganized its Dayton operation as Menlo Worldwide Forwarding and eliminated the airline.

CNF had said Menlo Worldwide Forwarding reported an operating loss of $13.8 million for the quarter, more than double the operating loss of $5.9 million it recorded in second quarter 2002.

Contact Timothy R. Gaffney at 225-2390.