USAir Crash Prompts Study of Rudder System on 737s

PITTSBURGH, Pa. — The rudder control system used on all Boeing 737 jets is under federal study to see if there is any need for it to be redesigned.

The Federal Aviation Administration review was prompted in part by the September crash of a USAir 737 near Pittsburgh.

“We’re actually reviewing the systems from top to bottom,” FAA spokesman David Duff told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Experts from other federal agencies and the FAA’s Canadian counterpart are taking part, according to FAA Associate Administrator Anthony J. Broderick.

Boeing Co. spokeswoman Liz Verdier said the company considers “a fresh look at the design” of the plane to be helpful.

She said the initial investigation of the Pittsburgh crash has not found evidence to suggest that any single component failed and that the review will cover “anything that commands flight control: wings, rudder, horizontal stabilizers, elevators. Anything that controls the flight characteristics of the airplane.”

The study is separate from the National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation of the USAir crash itself. On Sept. 8, a USAir 737-300 rolled to the left and plunged about 6,000 feet into a wooded hillside, killing all 132 people on board.

Malfunctioning rudders, the vertical part of an airplane’s tail that turns the craft left or right, have never been established as the cause of a 737 crash.