Air Transportation: February 6, 2001

Archives

The blame game for the V-22 program rolls on. Congressman Curt Weldon (R-Pennsylvania) whose district includes one of the three factories working on the V-22 program, charged that the crashes are caused by quality control problems with the contractor. Bell-Boeing responded that their employees "eat, sleep, and breathe quality". Analysts noted that three crashes have been caused by a pilot descending too quickly, a ruptured hydraulic line, and an improperly-installed engine seal. Marine Lieutenant Colonel Odin F. Leberman, who commands the only V-22 unit, admitted that he had ordered maintenance records falsified since the planes were taking too much maintenance.Stephen V Cole