FAA records 27 MD-80 related aircraft with horizontal stabiliser problems - Federal Aviation Administration - Brief Article

Airline Industry Information, Feb 17, 2000

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The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has indicated that it has recorded a total of 27 aircraft found with problems relating to the horizontal stabiliser`s jackscrew on MD-80 and similar aircraft.

On 14 February airlines had reported about 23 problems and this increased to 27 on 15 February, with a final tally expected shortly. The four extra aircraft included two from Delta Air Lines and two from Northwest Airlines.

Northwest has explained that it replaced parts on three aircraft but that the FAA had only listed one aircraft in earlier counts.

The inspection of more than 1,000 aircraft resulted from the crash of an Alaska Airlines MD-83 aircraft on 31 January in relation to which the pilots complained of experiencing problems with the aircraft`s horizontal stabiliser.

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