NTSB calls for new standards for jet engines after '04 crash

0 Comments | USA TODAY, November, 2006 | by Alan Levin

The engines on a popular regional jet have a safety flaw that could prevent them from being restarted if they fail during high-altitude flight -- and other engine models could have the same problem, federal aviation accident investigators said Monday. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is recommending that federal regulators require new standards and tests for the engines on the Bombardier CRJ-model jets to ensure that the failure that contributed to a fatal 2004 crash does not occur again.

Two pilots on an otherwise empty Pinnacle Airlines flight died on Oct. 14, 2004, when both engines on their CRJ-200 stopped and would not restart despite repeated attempts. The interior of the GE Aviation CF34 engines locked up, preventing them from spinning fast enough to...