BY SCOTT BREEN AND ROBBIE SCHERR

SEATTLE-In a dramatic turnaround, The Boeing Company - the world's largest airplane manufacturer - publicly admitted that an engineering problem could cause their 737 model to go out of control. The 737 is the most widely used passenger jet in history with more than 2,700 currently flying throughout the world.

On November 1, Boeing issued a "service bulletin" to all airlines to immediately inspect their 737 rudder control systems for a jammed valve - acknowledging it could cause a dangerous, uncommanded swing of the plane's rudder.

That same day, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered emergency inspections of the rudder system on every U.S.-registered Boeing 737 airliner to take place within ten days.

The valve malfunction can cause what is known as a "rudder hardover," in which a rudder swings all the way to one side, and can throw the plane into an out of control roll. Problems with the rudder system are suspected to have caused two crashes - one in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1991, in which all 25 people aboard died; and one in Pittsburgh in 1994 in which all 132 aboard perished.

Just two weeks earlier the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued a list of 14 recommendations to the FAA to address potential problems with the 737 rudder control system. The recommendations grew out of a nearly two-year investigation into the accidents.

Throughout the investigations of the Colorado Springs and Pittsburgh disasters, Boeing has maintained that the rudder system was not responsible and that no substantial changes were needed. Despite evidence to the contrary, and its own recent tests verifying that the rudder control system can seriously malfunction, Boeing still denies that this problem was responsible for the crashes or the hundreds of pilot reports of uncontrolled rudder movements throughout the years.

However, NTSB Chairman Jmaes Hall issued a statement that Boeing's service bulletin "brings us closer to finding the answer to these twin tragedies [Pittsburgh & Colorado Springs]."

Both the FAA order and Boeing's surprise reversal came the day after the Seattle Times finished running a five-part, front- page series on Boeing 737 safety problems by aerospace reporter Byron Acohido. Entitled "Safety At Issue: The 737," the series documents the mechanical problems with the 737 and the plodding course of the accident investigations. The articles indicate a possible coverup by both The Boeing Company and the government agencies involved.

Reporter Acohido had written several articles earlier this year about the crash of TWA 800 in July, of an aging Boeing 747 airliner. While the government and the news media were promoting the theory that a "terrorist" bomb or missile caused that crash, Acohido suggested that it could have been the result of mechanical failure, and documented other similar cases. With 98 percent of the plane wreckage recovered now, investigators have found no evidence of a bomb or missile, and have had to grudgingly endorse the idea that a mechanical problem may have caused the TWA disaster.

Following a barrage of letters to the editor of the Seattle Times from Boeing executives, employees, and other individuals, Michael Fancher, the paper's executive editor, defended the Times decision to run Acohido's series over the objections of the aerospace giant. Fancher reported that Boeing executives had refused to be interviewed for the series and had urged that Acohido be removed from the aerospace beat at the Times. Boeing defends its record
Harold Carr, Boeing Vice-president for Public Relations and Advertising, defended the company's refusal to cooperate with Acohido in a lengthy article in the November 1 Boeing News. The News is a 16-page company newspaper, with a weekly circulation of 100,000. Ironically, the article was entitled "Reporter's Tack Doesn't Change Facts: Boeing Builds Safety into Every Airplane."

The same issue of Boeing News featured commentary on the Times series by Charlie Higgins, Boeing Commercial Group Vice President of Airplane Safety and Performance. Higgins wrote, "The most intensive investigation... has not revealed any airplane-related problem that could have caused or contributed to the Pittsburgh accident."

Both articles appeared the same day that Boeing acknowledged the design problem with its rudder control system!

The Seattle Times series also described how the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board - the two government agencies responsible for air safety - rely heavily on airplane and parts manufacturers to investigate crashes and other potential problems with their products. Acohido pointed out how investigations and recommendations are weighed toward the financial interests of airplane manufacturers and the airline industry. He described the aggressive lengths to which Boeing goes to protect itself against liability lawsuits in the event of an airplane crash.

The Seattle Times has now reprinted the entire series as a 24-page tabloid, making it available upon request at no charge. It is also available on the Internet.

Boeing officials say they will supply airlines with a "quick- fix" repair kit for the rudder power control unit in the next 30 days, claiming this will, in the short term, solve the problem they discovered. Boeing says it will also make available rudder "limiters" that can physically prevent rudder hardovers. The company says it will take three years to retrofit all the 737s in operation with these devices. The potential cost has not been made public, nor has Boeing indicated whether it would pick up the tab.

Earlier in October, while denying it had anything to do with the results of the accident investigations, Boeing announced that rudder limiters would be installed on all of the new generation of Boeing's 737, the first of which will be delivered in early December of this year.

The series in the Seattle Times and the admission by Boeing of a rudder problem have sparked a discussion among aerospace workers - over 80,000 of whom work in the Seattle area for Boeing - on the safety of the 737 and other Boeing products. Some of the questions workers are discussing are: Did Boeing know about the problem? When did it find out? Did it engage in a coverup? Is Boeing responsible for the Pittsburgh and Colorado Springs crashes? What other problems may exist that Boeing management is not divulging? Are Boeing's measures sufficient to protect the flying public?

Officials of the International Association of Machinists (IAM), the largest of the unions among Boeing production workers, have not commented publicly on the issue.

Robbie Scheer and Scott Breen are members of IAM Local 751, and work at Boeing's Everett facilities.  
 
 
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