Best by dates
 

FAA setting sunset dates on aircraft:

FAA moving to prevent aging aircraft dangers - CNN.com

Nothing new here, Airbus have these figures for all fleets.
I know of questions being asked by the CAA, what is the LOV (LIMIT OF VALIDITY) for the Boeing 757, to which the reply was, Boeing does not have one.

Several of these accidents were attributed to factors other than the amount of cycles or hrs eg. Aloha 737 lap seams being scored by metal tools during removal of sealant for inspection. HRS and cycles are a poor measure to use, hard landings and turbulence could fatigue one aircraft at a much faster rate than another.

Be better off pulling DFDR data and calculating the measurement of accelerometer data (would need long term measurements) say monthly, accumulate this fatigue and update the aircraft with it's life index accordingly.

Not a tech type
 

'another led to the loss of a wheel-and-brake assembly during landing.'

And I have no idea of the accident report for this one, nor do I wish to start a maintenance regime argument.

Surely an 'Ageing' airliner would have undergone numerous wheel and brake changes and also gone beyond the TBO for landing gear. Is the inclusion of this one, as relevent, in the article correct ??????



Bored

The landing gear example is a poor one as all landing gear has to be restored/overhauled at set intervals, normally somewhere between 8 & 12 years.
However one problem is that some landing gear do not have a set requirement which is to be accomplished at this overhaul, hence you may still get failures.:ugh:
However all landing gear as a set life and this is mandatory.:ok:

I like how they put numbers in for aircraft such the Concorde, Comet and Whitworth Argosy, just in case someone starts operating them under Part 121 again.