Inspector Says He Was There Before Flight 5481 Crashed

It's an embarrassing situation - one that could have career implications for a particular FAA inspector. Jerry Unruh was supposed to have inspected a maintenance provider subcontracted for the airline by Raytheon. Unruh was supposed to have inspected the subcontractor in Huntington (WV) twice before US Airways Express Flight 5481 crashed upon take-off at Charlotte-Douglas Airport Jan. 8. He was supposed to have inspected the West Virginia facility at least once after that. But FAA documents obtained by The Charlotte Observer indicate otherwise.

Re-entered Records

Unruh told The Observer he remembers traveling from his home base in Wichita (KS) to Structureal Modification And Repair Technicians before the Huntington facility started taking sub-contractor work from Raytheon. But when The Charlotte Observer asked the FAA for records of the visits prior to the Jan. 8 crash, administration officials couldn't produce them.

Instead, the paper reports, Unruh apparently went back into the FAA computer and entered information from the inspections on May 2 - after he had been interviewed by reporters. When asked about pre-dating that inspection report, Unruh refused comment.

Two days after Flight 5481 crashed, killing all 21 on board, FAA inspectors did make a documented visit to the SMART plant. There, a mechanic who worked on the Beech 1900 told them he remembered adjusting the commuter's control cables, but expected his supervisor to check the work before the aircraft was sent back into service. That supervisor check was apparently never made. The last flight of the Beech 1900 was its first fully-loaded flight since the cables had been adjusted.

Now, the NTSB is focused on those very control cables, as the board conducts a public hearing on the Charlotte crash May 20. Board members will also hear from expert witnesses who believe the load on board 5481 exceeded the Beech 1900's 17,120 gross maximum.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov/aviation/aviation.htm