Dayton Daily News

April 18, 2002

Following the infamous crash of a Value Jet DC-9 in the Florida Everglades, the Government Accounting Office published a 1997 report entitled, "FAA Oversight of Repair Stations Needs Improvement".

The report stated that nearly half of all work performed on U.S. passenger and cargo airlines is now done by about 2,800 independent repair stations rather than by the air carriers themselves.

These repair stations are doing everything from conducting routine engine maintenance to rebuilding entire airframes. And, according to the report, their use has grown substantially in recent years: "Carriers have found it more economical to contract out much of their maintenance work rather than hiring their own staffs and building extensive facilities." In recent years, FAA oversight of repair stations has become a matter of concern, in part, because "work performed by repair stations has been identified as a factor in several aircraft accidents."

One newspaper recently reported, "Although the immediate cause of the Value Jet crash was hazardous cargo, a deeper problem was Value Jet's failure to supervise a maintenance contractor and the FAA's failure to supervise either the airline or the maintenance firm." That same article quoted National Transportation Safety Board member John Goglia as saying that the February 2000 Emery Worldwide Airlines (EWA) accident "has a number of similarities to ValuJet," and "we went through this drill already, why are we back here again? What happened that they didn't get the message?"

Clearly, oversight of contract maintenance repair stations affects both passenger and cargo airlines.

On Feb. 16, 2000, Emery flight 17 departed Mather Airport in California, en route to Dayton. Two minutes later, the enormous fuel-filled DC-8 cargo-jet plowed into an outdoor auto auction yard, creating a dramatic series of explosions as the airplane and approximately 200 cars burst into what witnesses described as a "runway of fire." All crew members, including my brother-in-law, were killed. But a catastrophe of much greater magnitude nearly resulted: Merely two hours before the crash, the auction yard was open for business and reportedly contained as many as 300 people.

According to the NTSB Investigation Update, an exam of the wreckage of Emery flight 17 found indications that part of the DC-8’s mechanical flight control components may not have been connected prior to the flight (a push rod connecting to an elevator control tab). A contract maintenance repair station just three months before the crash had overhauled key components of that airplane. According to earlier media reports, the NTSB subsequently asked the airline to inspect its remaining fleet of DC-8s for similar problems. They reportedly found 11 planes with their push rod bolts installed backwards, 5 planes had problems in both elevators, and one plane had the push rod itself installed backwards.

Prior to the Emery flight 17 tragedy, in a 1998 letter to the FAA, Captain Tom Rachford, speaking for the Emery pilots’ union, wrote, "Our maintenance has dramatically fallen off. … I can’t say it any clearer: This airline is going to put a hole in the ground and kill someone. Please don’t let this fall upon deaf ears."

And then just five months before Emery's fatal crash, the pilot’s group pleaded yet again with FAA leadership. They wrote: "EWA is out of the regulator’s eye. …Why are the authorities continuing to turn a blind eye? The lower echelon of the regulatory agencies have substantiated our concerns. … However, it is the upper echelon that appears to be dragging its feet. …If we have an accident in the near future, the subsequent investigation will show sainthood on the part of Value Jet when compared to Emery Worldwide Airlines. …Emery crews are living on borrowed time."

Finally, the NTSB has announced it will convene a public hearing May 9, as part of the board's ongoing investigation into the fiery crash. The hearing, in Washington, will be the NTSB's first public hearing ever into the crash of a cargo plane.

The hearing likely will focus on aircraft maintenance and oversight by airline and FAA personnel. This is welcome news for those concerned about air cargo safety statistics that reveal a disconcerting frequency of cargo plane crashes. According to a 2000 Air Safety Week news brief, "The fatal and/or hull loss accident rate is some four times worse for the cargo-carrying sector" compared to the passenger airlines.

Families of the crew of Emery flight 17 applaud the NTSB's decision to convene this important hearing. As we continue to mourn the loss of our loved ones, we are hopeful this hearing is a turning point and an indication that substandard oversight, inadequate maintenance, and unsafe operational practices will no longer be tolerated as the air cargo industry continues to expand.

AP PHOTO/CAP: ON FEB., 16, 2000, an Emery DC-8 cargo-jet crashed after takeoff, killing the crew.