FAA REFUSES TO UPDATE MANUALS

Greg Owen

Attorney

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More than 15 years ago, a request was made to the Federal Aviation Administration to improve flight manuals in order to assist pilots who were low on fuel. The request was made by the National Transportation Board, in an effort to prevent crashes such as the Avianca Airlines plane that crashed on December 24, 1990.

The request was denied at that time, and has yet to be adopted by the FAA. Jim Ballough, director of the FAA's Flight Standards Service, said recently. "We feel that the procedures that are in place . . . if they follow that they will never have a problem," Yet, the Miami Herald found fuel failure in one of every 10 nonfatal U.S. cargo accidents since 2000.

In 2003 a twin-engine cargo plane went into the Mississippi River as a result of running out of fuel. Fortunately, that plane was carrying seat covers. Nonetheless, the crash caused serious injuries to the pilot and co-pilot for Grand Aire Express. Key testimony showed the company pushed pilots to fly on low levels of fuel, and that the policy was not to buy fuel from non-contract vendors. Due to the fact that it was more expensive.

Inspite of many such crashes, the FAA feels that the manuals currently spell out aviation regulations with respect to this issue, so the agency sees no cause to revamp manuals.