Boeing 727 Airplane

An Eastern Airlines jet carrying 110 people tore open at 31,000 feet Monday, causing loss of cabin pressure and forcing an emergency landing, authorities said. Two minor injuries were reported. A Federal Aviation Administration official said that cracks were found on the plane's fuselage in two inspections in 1986 and 1987.

AMR Corp.'s American Airlines said it will take nine more aircraft out of its fleet earlier than planned, the carrier's fourth move since June to reduce capacity because of the decline in business travel. The moves will keep capacity unchanged this year and lower it by almost 1% in 2002, the company said. The latest action includes five Boeing Co. 727s and four MD-11s that will be retired by next year's first quarter rather than by 2003.

The right rear engine fell off a Northwest Airlines Boeing 727 jetliner Thursday as it flew 35,000 feet above Florida, forcing the plane carrying 145 people to make an emergency landing in Tampa. No one aboard was injured. The 3,500-pound engine, one of three on the aircraft, fell somewhere near Cross City, between Jacksonville and Tallahassee, airline officials said.

United Airlines, the world's largest air carrier, will retire a third of its Boeing 727-200 aircraft fleet in 2001, a year earlier than expected, in an effort to counteract the effects of higher fuel and labor costs, parent UAL Corp. said. It said retiring the 25 planes will restrain growth in capacity next year. United also said it ordered 13 new Airbus aircraft in a deal valued at roughly $650 million to replace some of the 727s. UAL shares fell 31 cents to close at $35.

The Federal Aviation Administration ordered emergency inspections of the wiring of all U.S.-registered Boeing 727s late Friday, after mechanics found severe wear on wires running through the fuel tanks on two jets. The agency said mechanics found signs of electrical sparking around the wires, which could trigger a fuel tank explosion. "This condition, if not corrected, could result in ignition of fuel vapors in a fuel tank and a fuel tank explosion," the FAA told 727 operators.

The Federal Aviation Administration, after finding several takeoff alarm systems not working properly, on Thursday ordered the warning devices tested on nearly 1,800 Boeing 727 and Boeing 737 jetliners. The action, prompted in part by two fatal airline crashes, requires the tests to be conducted within 200 flight hours and repeated every 200 flight hours to make certain that pilots are warned if their planes are not properly configured to take off.

A Braniff Airways flight from New York to Florida made a safe emergency landing at Newark International Airport Friday after a warning light indicated a hydraulics problem, officials said. "We had nothing but a faulty warning system," said Braniff spokesman Don McGuire. He said the incident drew exaggerated attention because an airport spokesman reported that the Boeing 727's primary hydraulic system had failed and that the plane, with 106 people aboard, landed using a secondary system.

Hydraulic system failures affected landings by two American Airlines jets, a DC-10 carrying 297 people to Dallas and a Boeing 727 carrying 34 passengers and crew members to Rochester, N.Y. Backup systems took over in both cases and no injuries were reported, officials said. Airport emergency personnel and the Rochester Fire Department lined the runway as the 727 touched down at Greater Rochester International Airport.

An international task force made up of airlines, aircraft builders and government officials issued what some experts said was a landmark call Tuesday for costly, rigorous self-policing, recommending an $800-million repair and maintenance program to make the world's aging air fleet safe.

Boeing Co., Rolls-Royce and CFM International are being sued for $2.5 billion by a Southland upstart that claims the aerospace companies interfered with its plan to refurbish and sell 700 Boeing 727-200 aircraft. Aviation Upgrade Technologies Inc. claims in its antitrust lawsuit that Seattle-based Boeing persuaded CFM and Rolls-Royce not to sell it aircraft engines.

The Federal Aviation Administration ordered inspections on electrical wiring found in the fuel tanks of Boeing 727s and directed aircraft operators to wrap all the wires with an extra layer of Teflon. The FAA order requires the operators to remove wire bundles from the fuel tanks, inspect them for any chafing and replace them as needed. The FAA provided a timeline requiring planes with more than 30,000 flight hours to complete the inspections and Teflon wrapping within 30 days.

The Federal Aviation Administration ordered emergency inspections of the wiring of all U.S.-registered Boeing 727s late Friday, after mechanics found severe wear on wires running through the fuel tanks on two jets. The agency said mechanics found signs of electrical sparking around the wires, which could trigger a fuel tank explosion. "This condition, if not corrected, could result in ignition of fuel vapors in a fuel tank and a fuel tank explosion," the FAA told 727 operators.

Onlookers stood in the predawn rain to watch Bruce Campbell move his new home--a 127-foot-long decommissioned Boeing 727 he bought for $100,000--from near the airport to the countryside. A crew worked to tow the wingless craft through the streets of Hillsboro, Ore., to a 500-acre orchard 12 miles away. The fuselage will rest there until spring, when Campbell, 49, will figure a way to get it up a steep slope to his 10-acre parcel.

The Federal Aviation Administration in Washington issued an emergency order for repairs to Boeing 727 aircraft converted to cargo use because of problems with riveted joints in the fuselage skin. FAA said repairs had been made on passenger versions of the 727, but planes converted to cargo use had not complied with a 1991 order that gave operators up to six years to perform the work. "Inspections must be performed within 60 landings.

A jury has ruled that the multimillionaire son and daughter-in-law of the late oil baron J. Paul Getty must pay a Torrance aircraft brokerage firm almost $4 million in damages for withholding a $432,500 commission on the purchase of a luxury Boeing 727. Figures in the 2 1/2-week trial included members of one of America's wealthiest families, an aircraft broker whose clients have included Frank Sinatra, John F. Kennedy and Sammy Davis Jr.

The right rear engine fell off a Northwest Airlines Boeing 727 jetliner Thursday as it flew 35,000 feet above Florida, forcing the plane carrying 145 people to make an emergency landing in Tampa. No one aboard was injured. The 3,500-pound engine, one of three on the aircraft, fell somewhere near Cross City, between Jacksonville and Tallahassee, airline officials said.