Proposed Penalty for Boeing
The Boeing Co. faces a proposed civil penalty of $13.6 million for its alleged failure to meet a government deadline to submit service instructions for airlines to install systems designed to reduce the risk of fuel tank explosions.
“Manufacturers must provide the necessary instructions so the airlines can comply with this important safety regulation,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says that, since the July 1996 crash of a Trans World Airlines Boeing 747 — which investigators attributed to an explosion of flammable vapors in a fuel tank — it has issued 283 directives aimed at preventing vapor ignition in and around aircraft fuel tanks.
One directive, issued in 2008, set a Dec. 27, 2010, deadline for Boeing and Airbus — the companies responsible for the affected airplanes — to “develop design changes and service instructions for installing systems to further reduce fuel …
