I'm a poster from Houston, and I occasionally fly on airplanes.

I want to know steps that I can take to avoid aircraft that may have faulty insulation and/or faulty IFE systems.

I usually fly on one of the three following airlines and/or regional affiliates:
* Continental
* Southwest
* Delta

Should I research IFE/insulation incidents of the following airlines? Should I avoid older airplanes that may have faulty retrofits?

Hi Vincent, welcome to the site. I will send this question to CD, who is actually from Canada but is the most knowledgeable poster on the site. Also Murray- if you're around, any thoughts?

Thanks for posting, Vincent.

Barbara Fetherolf

Vincent, I think you would mostly find the faulty insulation that was on the swissair 111 aircraft, on the Mcdonnell Douglas planes such as the MD-11s. They're not in use much anymore except for cargo jets, but there are still some other models that have mylar insulation.

I don't think you will find IFEs on many of the regional jets these days, but could find them on an international flight. Let me see if CD has any answers for you.

Barbara

Vincent, Unfortunately here is part of the answer to your question. It appears that the FAA hasn't really been keeping on top of IFEs since the swissair 111 crash. Hardly surprising.

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2007/11/13/219276/...n-entertainment.html