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'Aircraft's age does not matter'

Amberish K Diwanji in New Delhi

Was the 20-year-old Alliance Air aircraft that crashed near Patna airport this morning airworthy?

With aviation experts claiming that the aircraft was too old and could therefore have had maintenance problems, the officials at Indian Airlines (the holding company of Alliance Air), the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and the Union government are trying to prove that the aircraft was fit to fly despite its advancing years.

Civil Aviation Secretary Akbar H Jung at a press conference this evening said there are over 900 20-years-old Boeing 737s in service across the world. "The maximum number (522) of such B737s in service are in the United States," he said.

Quoting from a prepared text, he pointed out that United Airlines has 40 B737s that are over 20 years old, and the oldest among them is 28 years old.

Alaska Airlines has seven B737s which are 20 years old. US Air has 17 such aircraft and the oldest in its fleet is 26 years old, while America West has three such aircraft, of which the oldest is 24 years old.

"If so many 20-years-old aircraft can still fly, there should be no debate on the question of age," he said.

The question, then, is about a particular aircraft's airworthiness. Here, Jung again claimed that the ill-fated aircraft had been certified "fit" as recently as January last. "This aircraft underwent ageing modification on January 29, 2000," said Jung.

He said Indian Airlines had one of the best safety records in the world. Civil Aviation officials pointed out that insurance payments by Indian Airlines have come down to levels comparable with other international airlines. "Indian Airlines has actually saved up to Rs 1 billion in insurance premiums," said an official.

The officials insist that IA carries out intensive checks on all its aircraft. "Let us remember that worldwide, 90 per cent of all accidents are caused by human error," an official said, but hastened to add that he was not blaming the pilot or anyone else at this juncture.

Alliance Air has 12 aircraft with two of them (now one) 20 years old. The age of the others are (in years) 17.8, 17.9, 18.8, 19.3, 19.4, 19.9 and 19.9.

"An aircraft is not judged by its age alone, but also by the number of flights it takes," said a senior civil aviation official. "Every landing adds to the stress, and thus after a few years, there is a complete check on metal fatigue and stress, and only those cleared as airworthy are allowed to fly," he said.

"Age does not matter," said a senior official said.

See full coverage of the Alliance Air crash

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