作者nyrnu (Air/Rail/Sea enthusiast)
看板Aviation
標題[新聞] 長榮最新的773ER與Koito- why delay's 幕後故事
時間Sun Jul 11 11:09:30 2010
長榮最新的3架773ER與Koito- why delay's 幕後故事
簡單說就是Koito 的座椅出問題--而這是長榮自己選的, 非波音指定.
因此就只好自己X 在心頭口難開, 不敢吭聲.
大家不妨猜猜長榮最後要如何收尾解決這問題.
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http://blog.seattlepi.com/airlinereporter/archives/214041.asp
Safety Issues with 150,000 Koito Airline Seats Raise Serious Questions
This is back in January when there were just two Eva Air Boeing 777-300ER's
sitting at Paine Field. Photo by Kevin Frysinger
I am up at Paine Field quite a bit. This is where many of Boeing's aircraft
are made: the 777, 787, 747 and 767. For months I have seen two brand new Eva
Air Boeing 777-300ER's sitting by the control tower. The last time I went by,
there were three. Why would Eva Air let three brand new planes worth about
$800,000,000.00 just sit and not make revenue? Well, it turns out they have
no seats and the problem extends beyond Eva Air.
The seat manufacturer Koito, based in Japan, falsified safety test results
and in September of 2009, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) withdrew
approval for the seats. EASA claimed that 16g, 9g and flammability test data
were affected and the EASA stopped Airbus from installing any additional
seats.
Flight Global and ATI reports that these falsified tests affected as many as
150,000 seats on 1,000 aircraft. How can this happen? Multiple sources have
confirmed to Flight Global and ATI that Koito falsely indicated that some
seats had been cleared by the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) by illegally
forging the JCAB's stamp of approval.
Many airlines have had to deal with the delays of aircraft delivery due to
Koito's issues and yet there are even more airlines that already have the
seats installed. Earlier, Boeing sent people to Japan to help Koito solve
its quality issues. However, it seems that their help wasn't enough and
Boeing told me they will no longer offer Koito seats to customers.
I also asked Boeing if the seats already on airlines are safe and Bev
Holland, Boeing Manufacturing & Quality Communications Specialist, explained,
"Boeing has a comprehensive system in place to make sure seats conform to FAA
specifications before being installed. While we are working to help those
customers who have previously ordered Koito seats to make sure the seats are
correctly installed and certified, Koito seats are no longer an option for
new orders. "
When I asked Boeing about the Eva Air Boeing 777′s, Holland stated, "we do
not discuss our customers' airplanes," but she did confirm that, "seats are
buyer-furnished equipment."
I can respect Boeing not talking on behalf of an airline, so I went to talk
to Eva Air. I was looking to see if Eva would confirm why the Boeing 777′s
are not being used, what their game plans for the aircraft are and if they
are paying parking fees to Paine Field (which is actually owned by Snohomish
County). I heard back from Katherine Ko, Jr Vice President of Public
Relations for Eva and she stated, "Our priorities are safety and quality
service, and those aircraft are there for aircraft update." I was hoping for
a bit more information, but I can understand the airline not wanting to say
too much publicly right now, especially if any legal action is taken in the
future.
Since Boeing and Airbus are no longer providing the seats, are the ones
currently flying safe? I am told they are safe and it has not proven that
they are not, it has just been proven that Koito falsified records.
Currently there is an advisory board made up of the JCAB, Airbus, Boeing,
All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines, and Koito determining if the seats are
safe. The board is requesting airlines who currently fly with Koito seats to
donate a few, so testing can be done to see if they are safe. I am not sure
how well that will go. I know airlines care about the safety of their
passengers but do they really want to donate seats that might help to
determine if they are defective and need to be replaced?
I also wondered why the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) wasn't more
involved in this matter since there are quite a few Koito seats flying in the
United States. Would the FAA issue an Airworthiness Directive (AD) requiring
all US airlines to replace the seats? I contacted them to find out and got
some surprising answers.
I communicated with Alison Duquette, who is with the FAA Office of
Communications, about the certification of the seats and she told me, "The
Koito seats were approved through the US/Japan bilateral agreements. The JCAB
reviews and accepts all data and the FAA then accepts their test data via our
bilateral agreement." This means the FAA just rubber-stamps JCAB's approval,
which was falsely rubber-stamped by Koito. Pushing to see if the FAA might
possibly issue an AD she explained, "Japan is the certifying authority so
they would be the government to issue a directive and then the FAA could
follow."
I asked the FAA if any new rules have been put into place after this incident
and Duquette told me, "The JCAB has a process in place to make sure to
correct any problems." When I asked what the FAA thought about the forged
approval by Koito, in essence by-passing the JCAB approval, Duquette referred
me to the JCAB. At this point, it seems the FAA is taking a very hands-off
approach.
So, what now? I am not exactly sure. Do I want the industry to have to spend
millions during a time when they really cannot afford it? Of course not.
However, I don't want it to take an accident and people needlessly getting
injured or die because they were sitting in faulty seats. I am sure this will
be an on-going story. At the time of publishing this blog, I have not been
able to get in contact with the JCAB or Koito. I will continue to work with
Mary Kirby with Flight International (she also writes the RunwayGirl blog) on
finding more answers.
No matter what happens, I really hope that those Eva Air Boeing 777′s can
get into the sky soon; it is a shame seeing those beautiful birds stuck on
the ground.
Image by @TxAgFlyer
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◆ From: 114.40.89.195
推 AdPiG:長榮非自己? 07/11 11:24
→ ndr:買張機票就可以坐在價值美金兩億的飛機出國旅行:) 07/11 11:26
→ ndr:難怪一陣子了長榮常要換機型飛 07/11 11:27
※ 編輯: nyrnu 來自: 124.8.187.138 (07/11 12:55)
→ nyrnu:Sorry,筆誤已更正. 07/11 12:57
推 cgy:有聽到消息說要拔現役椅子,每台飛機出幾張椅子,先把它們弄回 07/11 16:30
→ cgy:台灣再說 07/11 16:31
推 ksyulun:透過改艙改椅子間距同時...趕緊用多的椅子接回飛機 07/11 19:15
推 qwertyn80:看不是很懂 有懶人包嗎? 07/11 19:33
→ nyrnu:樓上正解 07/11 23:18
→ Guis:之前長榮改貨機~~ 應該有不少椅子吧~~ 07/11 23:25
→ nyrnu:話說華航當年花大錢裝a340頭等艙座椅用沒幾年又拆,現在何處? 07/11 23:27
推 ap256515:現在好像還有2架77W還卡在西雅圖飛不回來... 07/11 23:49