That's what makes me angry Mriya, it wasn't even an AD originally. Apart from a single country it still isn't, it's simply an Alert SB. I believe the SB in question was ASB 767-54A0070, an inspection of the Wing/Pylon attachment area of certain older B767-200s for cracks. Serious enough certainly, but the whole affair did not concern our airline or this country. One particular airworthiness authority made it an AD specifically to ground a single operator's fleet as a result of a dispute between that operator and the regulator about engineering standards.
The result of the sensational approach was that our own Finance Department raised the matter internally at Corporate level in such a way as to question the integrity of airline engineering in general and our own Engineering Department in particular by insisting that they are given an explanation from Boeing. Technical Services' word was considered insufficient. Now, who the hell is controlling engineering and on what basis? Have the Press become regulators with the Beancounters as Quality Assurance? Where is all this leading? Is anyone else experiencing outside interference in engineering matters? From some of the stuff in the press after the Concorde accident I suspect that this may be so. It might sell more newspapers but I don't believe that it does anything to improve safety.
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Through difficulties to the cinema
[This message has been edited by Blacksheep (edited 13 April 2001).]