WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Federal Aviation Administration Friday issued an emergency order for airlines to inspect more than 1,400 Boeing aircraft for a potentially faulty fuel pump that could cause an explosion.

The FAA said no serious incidents have been reported as a result of the fuel pumps, but inspections have found chafed or misaligned wires in pumps that suddenly stopped working during flights. The damaged wires, in turn, can result in sparks, or arcing.

"Examination of failed pumps showed that arcing had occurred in the pump bearings both inside and outside of the explosion-proof cavity of the pump. Such arcing could result in an ignition source in the fuel tank," the directive says.

The FAA gave airlines four days to check their fleets and change their operating procedures so that fuel is kept in the center fuel tanks, until the problem can be further remedied.

More at :
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TRAVEL/NEWS/08/30/faa.fuel.pump.defect/index.html

** Could this have been the ignition source for TWA 800?? **

Thanks David, I'm wondering the same thing.

Barbara

A follow up on that story:

Airlines Must Inspect 1,400 Jets

By The Associated Press

AP/ [14K]
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A day after the government called for 1,400 Boeing jets to be inspected for possibly faulty fuel pumps, major U.S. carriers said Saturday they had few planes in which the pumps have been installed.

The directive from the Federal Aviation Administration said the pumps could cause an explosion because wires were placed too close to a rotor and could chafe.

American Airlines, the nation's No. 1 carrier, said Saturday it was replacing pumps on three aircraft. United and Delta, the nation's second- and third-largest airliners, said none of their planes was affected by the FAA order.

``We've checked our aircraft and spare parts inventory and we have none of the parts with the manufacturer or model number listed in the airworthiness directive,'' Delta spokeswoman Christi Tucker said.

Among smaller carriers, Northwest Airlines said about a half-dozen of its planes were affected by the order.

FAA spokesman William Shumann said it was not surprising airlines are finding few of the pumps in their planes. ``These suspect pumps were only manufactured this year'' and many probably are in airline inventories as spare parts, he said.

``Presumably airlines would just remove them from inventory, put them aside,'' he said. ``An airline is not going to take a suspect pump from spare parts and put it on a plane.''

The FAA stressed that no serious incidents have been linked to the pumps, which are supplied by Hydro-Aire Inc. of Burbank, Calif., and have been installed since January on Boeing 737s, 747s and 757s.

Boeing spokeswoman Liz Verdier said Saturday that the company delivered 118 jets this year with 1,300 of the possibly faulty pumps. The pumps are located in the center fuel tank under the fuselage. Some planes may also have pumps in wing tanks.

The FAA's order did not require airlines to immediately remove the pumps. Rather, airlines were ordered to keep enough fuel in the tanks to cover the devices even when the planes bank or encounter turbulence in flight.

Ron Wojnar, the FAA's deputy director of aircraft certification services, explained that submersion would prevent any sparks from igniting fuel vapors.

``This will enable carriers to continue flying as normal until the pumps are replaced,'' Verdier added.

Airlines were given four days to complete inspections.

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On the Net:

FAA: http://faa.gov

Boeing: http://boeing.com/commercial/orders/index.html