52-Plane Fleet Grounded Until Fire Suppression System Reviewed

The FAA crackdown on airline maintenance and record keeping has prompted yet another carrier to pull its planes, to recheck the records. United Airlines announced Thursday customers traveling on April 2, 2008 on United's Boeing 777 aircraft may experience flight delays or cancellations as a result of a functional check being performed on the aircraft.

"As part of a regular review of maintenance records, the company discovered that the functional test that checks the firing system on one of the five bottles in the cargo fire suppression system on the Boeing 777 was not performed, and this was voluntarily disclosed to the FAA," said the airline. "United is in the process of checking this part of the system. This system is regularly tested as part of the pre-flight safety checks."

United stressed the checks are related to compliance, and not an imminent safety issue... but until the checks are verified, United will not operate any of its 52 777s.

"We apologize for any inconvenience and ask customers to check their flight status on united.com before leaving for the airport. United is currently working to provide additional aircraft where available and is accommodating customers on other flights and other airlines."

In the weeks since the FAA announced its massive safety audit of airline maintenance practices, carriers including Southwest, American, and Delta have pulled planes from their mainline fleets to check for compliance with mandatory safety procedures.

FMI: www.united.com, www.faa.gov