30/07/10, 05:47:01 EDT

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AirTran Airways Completes Boeing 737 Inspections Early

eTN

AirTran Airways, a subsidiary of AirTran Holdings, Inc., today announced that it finished detailed inspections and torque checks of slat system attachment hardware on its entire fleet of 50 Boeing 737-700s after a week of intensive work at six of the airline's maintenance facilities.

The Federal Aviation Administration had given AirTran Airways and other Boeing 737 operators 10 days to complete the inspections and 24 days to finish the technical services. AirTran Airways performed both jobs to the highest professional standards in seven days.


"AirTran Airways Maintenance Crew Members are absolutely committed to the highest levels of safety, and they performed skillfully and magnificently on this critical task," said Kirk Thornburg, AirTran Airways Vice President for Maintenance and Engineering. "We fully support the FAA's decision to require these inspections and torque checks, and we're very proud of our Crew Members' detailed, thorough and timely work."


The FAA asked for the inspections on Aug. 28 after a fire destroyed a China Airlines Boeing 737-800 in Japan. Investigators suspect a loose part in a wing slat ruptured a fuel tank and started the fire. AirTran Airways mechanics spent about 20 hours inspecting and servicing each of the airline's newest, most efficient planes. No major discrepancies were found during the exhaustive process.

 Printable Version  | published Sep 04, 2007