WASHINGTON: Federal regulators will require more frequent testing of switches on Boeing 737s that warn pilots about a dangerous loss of cabin pressure.
The Federal Aviation Administration said it took action after receiving reports of newly installed switches failing.
There are two switches on every Boeing 737, and if both fail at the same time, unsuspecting pilots could pass out from lack of oxygen, the FAA said in a rule posted Thursday.
The FAA said its order affects 2,502 aircraft registered with the US Chicago-based Boeing, which it said supports the move.
The command instructs the aircraft’s operators to test and, if necessary, replace parts called cabin altitude pressure switches every 2,000 flight hours instead of the current 6,000-hour interval.
Boeing initially assumed that switches provided by a supplier that Boeing declined to identify would very rarely fail. However, the FAA said further investigation led the agency and Boeing to decide two months earlier that the failure rates of both switches were much higher than initial estimates, and therefore posed a safety issue.
The FAA said it did not know why the switches failed. Boeing said it is working with the FAA and the switch supplier to fix the problem.
Federal regulations require all airline aircraft to include a system that warns employees about depression. The pressure switches on the Boeing 737 are designed to detect low pressure and trigger audible and visible warnings to pilots.
Disclaimer: This post has been self-published from the agency feed without modification and has not been reviewed by an editor
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