Device Can Be Installed During One Overnight Maintenance Check

TULSA , Okla. – There is a way to quickly shed 1,000 pounds of fuel weight on a Boeing 757 overnight.

Here's how: American Airlines has begun installing new safety equipment designed to protect the center fuel tanks of B757 aircraft, which today must carry a minimum 1,000 pounds of fuel to guard against a potential spark and explosion.

Using a kit designed by American and its partner, TDG Aerospace, installation can be accomplished during an overnight maintenance check.

As a result, American Airlines and its Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul division, American Airlines Maintenance Services, are way ahead of the industry in this endeavor.

The equipment was developed by TDG Aerospace, Inc., in conjunction with American, and is called the Universal Fault Interrupter, or UFI. The UFI protects the center fuel tanks from electrical faults, extended dry-pump operation, and un-commanded pump operation, each of which is the subject of pending Special Federal Air Regulation 88. The installation has Federal Aviation Administration Supplemental Type Certificate approval for the B757 and is an Alternate Method of Compliance (AMoC) to the fuel restrictions required by Airworthiness Directive 2002-24-51, thereby eliminating the requirement and associated cost to carry the 1,000 pounds of additional fuel.

To quickly adopt this leading-edge technology, American and TDG set as a design goal the ability to install the units on an overnight maintenance check.

American Airlines Aircraft Maintenance Technicians in Boston have successfully proven they could do the work in that time frame. This translates into the elimination of costly out-of-service time and paves the way for AA Maintenance Services to offer the UFI installation to other operators of the B757s.

The UFI, now available through TDG Aerospace, employs a redundant relay solution that prevents the pumps from continuing to operate if a control relay should fail to work.

This cooperative effort between American Airlines and TDG Aerospace helps alleviate the minimum fuel restrictions of FAA AD 2002-24-51, while providing a sound solution to forthcoming SFAR 88 mandates regarding fuel pump auto-shut-off, electrical fault protection, and un-commanded pump operation.

For more information, contact American Airlines Maintenance Services at http://www.mroaa.com or TDG Aerospace, Inc. at www.tdgaerospace.com