FAA Urged to Tighten DC-10 Brake Standard

WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board said today that older brakes on DC-10 jetliners may fail during aborted takeoffs and advised the Federal Aviation Administration to toughen its standards immediately.

The board’s recommendation, sent to FAA Administrator Allan McArtor, came in the wake of an aborted takeoff by an American Airlines DC-10 at Dallas-Ft. Worth Regional Airport on May 21.

In that incident, eight of the plane’s 10 brakes failed seconds after the pilot applied the brakes while traveling at 178 knots when a cockpit warning light indicated the plane’s wings were not in position for lift-off, the board said.

The plane skidded 1,000 feet off the end of the runway before stopping, seriously injuring the first officer and flight engineer.

Standards Deficient

The panel said its preliminary investigation of the accident revealed that McDonnell Douglas, the DC-10 manufacturer, had issued deficient standards for brake wear on the DC-10.

The McDonnell Douglas standard said that DC-10 brakes can safely make 1,000 landings between overhauls.

But the safety panel said the eight brakes that failed on the American Airlines DC-10, which had between 762 and 1,043 landings, were so worn that they could not withstand the heavy pressure put on them by sudden deceleration of a speeding aircraft.

It recommended that the FAA immediately tell McDonnell Douglas to issue new standards for brake wear to ensure that brakes are overhauled before they get to the point where they can’t stop a speeding aircraft on a runway.

The board also told the agency it should look at brake-wear standards for other commercial jets to ensure that they are adequate.