Tag Archives: FAA

Can Boeing 777 fuel tank explode from fatal flaw?!

Claim : Boeing 777 Fuel Tank Can Explode From Fatal Flaw!

Boeing is in the hot seat again, after the Daily Mail and the New York Post reported that its 777 airliner has a fatal flaw that could result in its fuel tank catching fire and exploding!

Daily Mail : Exclusive – Revealed: 300 Boeing Planes used by United and American Airlines have potential flaw that could cause ‘fire or explosion’ on jets, according to FAA

The FAA proposed a new airworthiness directive earlier this year to address a potential flaw in Boeing jets, DailyMail.com can reveal.

According to the FAA proposal, the issue involved an electrical fault on the company’s 777 jets that, if left unaddressed, could cause fuel tanks on the planes’ wings to catch fire and explode.

Discovery of the flaw exposes that nearly 300 more Boeing planes are potentially at risk, including jets used by United and American Airlines, according to the notice by the Federal Aviation Administration.

New York Post : FAA reveals flaw in another major Boeing plane that could result in fuel tank exploding

Yet another fleet of Boeing airplanes was found to have a potentially disastrous flaw — one that could set the entire aircraft ablaze.

The aircraft manufacturer discovered that its 777 liner has poor electrical insulation near its fuel tank, according to a proposed rule the Federal Aviation Administration posted in March.

“This condition, if not addressed, could result in an ignition source inside the fuel tank and subsequent fire or explosion,” the Airworthiness Directives note states.

Boeing + FAA Deny 777 Fuel Tanks Can Explode From Fatal Flaw!

After the reports came out, both Boeing and the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) pushed back on those claims.

The FAA said that it was not an immediate safety risk, while Boeing said that the regulatory process was being “sensationalised“, and called the Daily Mail’s report as “misleading and reckless“.

It makes incorrect connections and sensationalizes the standard regulatory process that has helped ensure air travel is the safest form of transportation.

This is not an immediate safety of flight issue. There are multiple redundancies designed into modern commercial airplanes to ensure protection for electromagnetic effects.

The 777 fleet has been operating for nearly 30 years, and has safely flown more than 3.9 billion passengers.

It should be noted that Boeing described this problem in a November 2023 alert bulletin. While it was not mandatory, it is likely that many airlines have already taken action, or are planning to fix the flaw, based on that Boeing alert.

The FAA also pointed out that its proposed airworthiness directive was based on the 21 November 2023 alert by Boeing, and would make mandatory what Boeing recommended.

The proposed [airworthiness directive], which the FAA issued in March 2024, would require installing electrical bonding and grounding to a component in the center fuel tank. It would make mandatory service actions that Boeing described in a November 2023 alert bulletin.

I should point out that the flaw is not due to “poor electrical insulation” as the New York Post reported – the word “insulation” isn’t even mentioned once in the FAA notice. Rather, the flaw is due to a lack of an electrical bond to ground a cover plate – like a wire or something similarly conductive to dissipate any accumulated static.

In addition, it was not the FAA that came up with the solution. The FAA notice actually referred to the Boeing service bulletin of 21 November 2023 (PDF), which had detailed instructions on the fix!

Guidance for accomplishing the actions required by this AD can be found in Boeing Alert Service Bulletin 777–47A0007, dated November 21, 2023, which is referred to in Boeing Alert Requirements Bulletin 777–47A0007 RB, dated November 21, 2023.

The Boeing 777 requirements bulletin also listed a “recommended compliance time” of 42 months – 3.5 years, which suggests that Boeing does not consider it an immediate threat to aircraft safety. The FAA also concurred in its airworthiness directive proposal.

I should also point out that modern airliners like the Boeing 777 come with nitrogen-generating or nitrogen-inerting systems to reduce the risk of fuel tank explosions, after the tragic explosion of TWA Flight 800 in 1996.

Boeing uses a Nitrogen Generation System (NGS) in its aircraft, which separates oxygen-rich air from the left engine’s bleed air, which is discharged from the aircraft. The remaining nitrogen-enriched air is pumped into the centre fuel tank.

As more nitrogen-enriched air is pumped into the centre fuel tank, the oxygen level drops from the usual 21% to 12% or less – at which point the oxygen concentration is too low to support combustion, thus mitigating the risk of an explosion.

In fact, the proposed FAA airworthiness directive specifically points to the Boeing 777’s nitrogen enriched air distribution system (NEADS). Ironically, the NEADS cover plate assembly is the potential source of electrostatic discharge.

So Boeing and the FAA would be correct that even though the cover plate assembly lacked “a designed electrical bond for electrostatic discharge“, there is no immediate safety risk, as there are redundancies built in, like the nitrogen-enriched air.

In short – this is hardly the “fatal flaw” that some people are claiming, and it can be easily resolved by simply installing an electrical bond at less than $2,400 per aircraft – mostly in manpower costs.

That said, you will want to eliminate all potential causes of sparking in the fuel tank, no matter how remote, even if there are other protective measures in place. Hopefully, the FAA will soon issue this airworthiness directive to make it mandatory, instead of optional.

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Is FAA Planning To Eliminate White Men From Aviation Industry?!

Claim : FAA Plans To Eliminate White Men From Aviation Industry!

People are sharing an article (archive) by The People’s Voice (formerly NewsPunch), which claims or suggests that the FAA just admitted its plan is to eliminate white men from the aviation industry, while fast tracking disabled minorities into key roles like pilots and air traffic controllers!

Here is an excerpt from the long, and (intentionally?) rambling article. Feel free to skip to the next section for the facts!

FAA Admits Plan Is To ‘Eliminate White Men’ From Aviation Industry

A leaked Zoom call recording shows Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officials admitting that the plan is to completely eliminate white men from the aviation industry while fast tracking disabled minorities into key roles like pilots and air traffic controllers.

The DailyWire’s Matt Walsh obtained the leaked Zoom call from 2022 between senior officials at the FAA’s Flight Program Operations division talking about implementing Diversity Equity and Inclusion measures in the aviation industry.

“The footage begins with FAA acting deputy chief operating officer Angela McCullough saying more workers need to go from ‘ramp to cockpit,’ meaning she wants to see more baggage handlers become airline pilots,” Walsh declared on X.

Infowars.com reports: McCullough then complains that Flight Operations is “white-male dominated” and tells the managers they need to “talk about what the future could look like.”

But the DEI insanity extends far beyond the pilots. According to Walsh, an “industry-wide embrace of overt mental illness afflicts every aspect of aviation.”

And “billions of dollars in critical grant funding” is going to DEI programs and initiatives rather than other important aspects of the industry.

This comes after the FAA announced a diversity push that would include focusing on hiring people with “severe intellectual” and “psychiatric” disabilities.

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https://www.techarp.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/FAA-Diversity-Meeting-360p.mp4?_=1

Truth : FAA Does Not Plan To Eliminate White Men From Aviation Industry!

This is yet another example of fake news created / promoted by The People’s Voice, and here are the reasons why…

Fact #1 : FAA Is A US Federal Government Agency

Let me just start by pointing out that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a US federal government agency. It only has powers over civil aviation in the United States, and its surrounding international waters.

The FAA has no power or authority over civil aviation in the rest of the world.

It is therefore impossible for the FAA to “completely eliminate white men from the aviation industry“, even if it really wanted to do that (which it doesn’t).

Fact #2 : Video Does Not Show FAA Plan To Eliminate White Men

Nothing posted by Matt Walsh, Infowars, or The People’s Voice, show the FAA admitting to any plan to eliminate white men from the aviation industry.

The leaked video only shows what appears to be an FAA internal meeting on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) measures that the aviation industry can adopt to make flight operations more inclusive and representative of the population.

In fact, FAA Acting Deputy Chief Operating Officer Angela McCullough is seen stating talking about potentially developing “partnerships” with university or trade schools to encourage a more diverse flight operations team.

Are there opportunities for any partnerships with universities or trade schools which specialised… we kinda talked about from ramp to cockpit. There are some things we would want to look at.

Unfortunately, the video ended abruptly at that point, which makes me wonder – could the video be missing context about what Angela McCullough was saying in that meeting?

But even without the rest of the video, you can see that Angela never once said that she or the FAA planned to eliminate white men from the aviation industry.

In fact, Matt Walsh himself did not even claim that the FAA plans to eliminate all white men from the aviation industry. So why would anyone make that claim based on his posts???

Fact #3 : There’s Nothing Wrong With Retraining People

It is uncertain what Angela McCullough meant by “from ramp to cockpit”, but it could simply mean offering people working in aviation ramp operations the opportunity to train and become pilots.

There is nothing wrong with retraining people for a different job, if that’s what the industry needs, and if they are interested and capable in the new job.

People can, and do, learn new skills to change jobs and even industries. As long as they are qualified for those new jobs, what exactly is wrong with that?

Only fools would believe that the FAA will ever let baggage handlers become airline pilots without training or passing qualification tests.

Fact #4 : Being Transgender Is Not A Mental Illness

Matt Walsh appears to suggest or claim that being transgender is an “overt mental illness”. That’s just not true.

Being transgender was once considered a psychological problem that can be treated. However, the American Psychiatric Association revised its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 2012, to remove being transgender as a mental disorder.

With the release of DSM-5 in 2013, being transgender itself is no longer a mental disorder. Some transgender people are now diagnosed with “gender dysphoria”, if they face emotional stress related to their gender identity.

All psychiatric diagnoses occur within a cultural context. We know there is a whole community of people out there who are not seeking medical attention and live between the two binary categories. We wanted to send the message that the therapist’s job isn’t to pathologize.
– Jack Drescher, a member of the APA subcommittee responsible for the change

Just because someone disagrees with the American Psychiatric Association’s definition, does not mean that the aviation industry is embracing “overt mental illness”.

Recommended : Did Pope Francis Suddenly Become A Fashion Icon?!

Fact #5 : Photo Shows Historic Female Pilots

The People’s Voice article used a photo of two young black female pilots (above). On of the off-chance that it was chosen to convey the perception that unqualified female minority pilots may soon begin putting your lives at risk, let me just say that it couldn’t be further from the truth.

The two female pilots are Captain Tara Wright, and First Officer Mallory Cave. They made made history on 13 May 2018, as the first African-American female flight crew to fly an Alaska Airlines flight from San Francisco to Portland.

Not only are they both fully-qualified pilots, Captain Wright was also the first-ever African-American female pilot to fly for US Airways, before becoming its first African-American female pilot to be promoted to Captain in 2017.

Captain Wright is only the 7th African-American woman to ever become a captain in any major airline, which points to the lack of diversity and representation in the aviation industry.

Fact #6 : The People’s Voice Is Known For Publishing Fake News

The People’s Voice is the current name for NewsPunch, which possibly changed its name because its brand has been so thoroughly discredited after posting numerous shocking but fake stories.

Founded as Your News Wire in 2014, it was rebranded as NewsPunch in November 2018, before becoming The People’s Voice. A 2017 BuzzFeed report identified NewsPunch as the second-largest source of popular fake news on Facebook that year.

Its articles have been regularly debunked as fake news, so you should never share anything from NewsPunch / The People’s Voice. Here are some of its fake stories that I fact checked earlier:

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Did FAA Admit Pilot EKGs Not Normal After Vaccines?!

Claim : FAA Admitted Pilot EKGs Are Abnormal From COVID-19 Vaccines!

An article by Steve Kirsch has gone viral, claiming that the FAA admitted that pilot EKGs are no longer normal, because the COVID-19 vaccines have damaged the hearts of many pilots?!

Here is an excerpt, which itself is really long, so feel free to skip to the next section for the facts!

In the October 2022 version of the FAA Guide for Aviation Medical Examiners, the FAA quietly widened the EKG parameters beyond the normal range (from a PR max of .2 to unlimited). And they didn’t widen the range by a little. They widened it by a lot. It was done after the vaccine rollout.

This is extraordinary. They did it hoping nobody would notice. It worked for a while. Nobody caught it.

But you can’t hide these things for long.

This is a tacit admission from the US government that the COVID vaccine has damaged the hearts of our pilots. Not just a few pilots. A lot of pilots and a lot of damage.

The cardiac harm of course is not limited to pilots.

My best guess right now is that over 50M Americans sustained some amount of heart damage from the shot.

That’s a lot of people who will be very upset when they realize the vaccine they took to reduce their chance of dying from COVID actually worked in reverse making it:

More likely that people will get COVID
Be hospitalized from COVID and other diseases
Die from COVID (and other diseases)
You also have an excellent chance of getting a lifetime of heart damage for no extra charge.

But don’t worry; you can’t sue them. They fixed the law so none of them aren’t liable (the doctors, the drug companies, the government). After all, you took the vaccine of your own free will. It’s not like you were forced (or coerced) to take it or anything like that! And there were plenty of people warning you not to take the shots (even though they censored most of them).

In this article, I will explain the evidence and thinking behind all my claims.

As I learn more, I will refine the estimate.

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Truth : FAA Did Not Admit Pilot EKGs Are Abnormal From Vaccines!

This is yet another example of MISINFORMATION created and/or propagated by anti-vaccination activists, and here are the reasons why…

Fact #1 : EKG = ECG

First, let me quickly clarify that EKG and ECG refer to the same test – electrocardiogram.

EKG is the abbreviation original German spelling (elektrokardiogramm), while ECG is the abbreviation for the English spelling.

Fact #2 : FAA Split 1st Degree AV Block Into Two Categories

On October 26, 2022, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) amended its medical policy on Heart Arrhythmias, specifically First-Degree Atrioventricular Block (1st Degree AV Block).

Previously, pilots with first-degree AV block were required to undergo tests and submit documentation to prove that they had “no evidence of structural function or coronary heart disease” to be certified to fly.

The FAA’s amended medical policy now splits pilots with first-degree AV block into two groups:

PR interval of less than 300 ms : certified for flight if no symptoms or Approved Medical Examiner (AME) concerns
PR interval of 300 ms or more : pilots must submit a current Holter and cardiac evaluation to the FAA for review

The claim that the FAA expanded the limit from 0.2 (seconds?) to unlimited is nonsense. There is a hard limit of 300 milliseconds (0.3 seconds) – from that point, the pilot must submit documentation for FAA’s evaluation.

Fact #3 : PR Interval Of Less Than 300 ms Usually Benign

The ECG of a person with a normal heart would generally have a PR interval of between 120 and 200 milliseconds. Anything above that usually indicates an AV block.

However, first-degree AV block is a misnomer – it only delays the electrical signal, it does not block it. Therefore, first-degree AV block often do not present with any noticeable symptoms.

On top of that, no treatment is indicated for people with first-degree AV block if their PR interval is less than 300 milliseconds, because it rarely causes any symptoms.

In an otherwise healthy heart, this is usually a benign condition and rarely causes any symptoms. In general, it does not require specific treatment besides a complete evaluation by a physician.

– Dr. Roland Assi, cardiac surgeon and assistant professor at Yale University

It is not uncommon for people to have such delays. If the [AV] block is less than 300 milliseconds, there is no indication for further therapy nor increased risk or impairment of bodily function

– Dr. Eric Adler, cardiologist and professor of medicine at University of California, San Diego.

Fact #4 : Long PR Interval Not A Vaccine Side Effect

I should point out that longer PR interval is not a COVID-19 vaccine side effect. In fact, a PR interval of less than 300 milliseconds is considered normal in many healthy people, with a PR interval of less than 400 milliseconds normal in healthy athletes.

For reference, in healthy athletes a PR interval <400 msec is considered normal. So, the 300 msec cutoff may be considered conservative in many healthy people.

– Dr. Richard Kovacs, chief medical officer at the America College of Cardiology.

Fact #5 : Change Was Not Made Because Of Vaccine

The FAA has spoken out about the claim, stating that the decision to adjust their policy for first-degree AV block was based on current science and data, and not because pilots were developing heart problems from COVID-19 vaccinations.

When making changes to medical requirements and guidance, the FAA follows standard processes based on data and science.

Our cardiology consultants provided information that anything under 300ms requires no additional testing and is not a risk for sudden or subtle incapacitation.

Fact #6 : FAA Considered Long PR Interval Normal Before COVID-19 Vaccines

The FAA had earlier released a document that said that a first-degree AV block with PR interval between 0.21 and 0.29 seconds is considered normal.

That document was published on 3 July 2019 – more than 5 months before the first COVID-19 outbreak in China, and more than 17 months before the first COVID-19 vaccine was approved!

Fact #6 : American College of Cardiology Approves Of New FAA Guidelines

Dr. Richard Kovacs, chief medical officer at the America College of Cardiology (ACC), said that the updated FAA criteria for widening ECG parameters for first-degree AV block is consistent with ACC guidelines.

The FAA’s updated criteria for widening the ECG parameters regarding AV Block are reasonable and consistent with ACC guideline recommendations.

Fact #7 : FAA Refutes Claims Of Complications From COVID-19 Vaccines

The FAA’s federal air surgeon has also determined that the Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, and Novavax COVIC-19 vaccines are safe for its pilots and air traffic controllers.

The FAA also refuted claims that COVID-19 vaccines have caused accidents or incapacitation of pilots:

The FAA has no evidence of aircraft accidents or incapacitations caused by pilots suffering medical complications associated with COVID-19 vaccine.

Please help us FIGHT FAKE NEWS by sharing this fact check article out, and please SUPPORT our work!

Don’t forget to protect yourself, and your family, by vaccinating against COVID-19!

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Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

Recommended Reading

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