Paper says FAA overlooked problems

By RICHARD DOOLEY, The Daily News

The mother of a teenager killed when Swissair Flight 111 crashed off the coast of Nova Scotia in 1998 is calling for a criminal investigation after a U.S. newspaper reported critical lapses in safety procedures during the installation of the plane's inflight entertainment unit.

A USA Today story reported yesterday that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration failed to catch problems with a new interactive flight entertainment system installed aboard the Swissair MD-11 jet because nobody working for the FAA reviewed the plans or supervised its installation.

"I think the (USA Today) article is just more evidence that the FAA's oversight was totally lacking and they allowed those that would take advantage of a weak system to get away with practices that were devoid of any safety concerns for the passengers and the crew," said Barbara Fetherolf.

Fetherolf and her husband, Mark, lost their 16-year-old daughter, Tara, in the crash.

"Had the (entertainment system) not been installed on that aircraft, I would have my beloved daughter Tara today," she said.

Fetherolf said U.S. and Swiss authorities should conduct a criminal investigation into how the entertainment system was bought and installed by Swissair.

The controversial entertainment system allowed passengers to select video on demand, gamble with credit cards and shop from seat-mounted consoles.

The Canadian Transportation Safety Board investigation of the crash near Peggy's Cove has not determined the cause of the onboard fire that sent the plane plunging into the ocean, killing all 229 people on board.

The investigation's final report is expected to be released within months, but investigators have said the entertainment system could figure prominently in the report. One-third of the short-circuited wires recovered from the wreckage came from the entertainment system.

The USA Today report said the company that sold the entertainment system to Swissair pressured FAA officials to approve the system despite some misgivings by engineers about its operation.

The story also claimed the system was prone to overheating and was installed in such a way that in the event of a fire aboard the plane it would be one of the last systems checked by pilots.

rdooley�hfxnews.ca

Here is the article that Richard Dooley is referring to in his article:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/biztravel/2003-02-16-swissair-investigation_x.htm