The Nation - News from April 15, 1986

The Federal Aviation Administration has ordered a modification of all Boeing 747 jetliners, in an effort to prevent further accidents such as the one that killed 520 people aboard a Japan Air Lines jumbo jet last year, officials said. The FAA directive requires that a cover plate be placed over an access door in the tail section of the plane to keep a rush of pressurized air from damaging the tail and critical control lines if the rear cabin wall fails, as it apparently did before the Japan Air Lines crash.