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Aviation Safety: Slow Progress in Making Aircraft Cabin Interiors Fireproof

RCED-93-37 Published: Jan 06, 1993. Publicly Released: Feb 08, 1993.
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Highlights

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) transport airplane interior cabin flammability standards, focusing on the: (1) number of U.S. aircraft that meet or are expected to meet FAA flammability standards by 1999; (2) estimated cost for all aircraft to meet the standards; and (3) safety benefits of meeting the standards.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Transportation The Secretary of Transportation should direct the Administrator, FAA, to reassess whether to issue a regulatory requirement mandating a specific date for all aircraft date for all aircraft in the fleet to comply with the latest flammability standards for cabin interiors. Such a reassessment should compare the cost-effectiveness of retrofitting aircraft to meet the standards with other actions that could improve the overall safety of the U.S. aircraft fleet.
Closed – Not Implemented
This recommendation is no longer applicable because prior to the issuance of the GAO report in January 1993, FAA had completed--in July 1992--a reassessment of whether to issue a regulatory requirement mandating a specific date for all aircraft in the fleet to comply with the latest flammability standards for cabin interiors, as GAO had suggested. The FAA reassessment determined the change was not cost-effective due to the estimated cost of about $3 billion for the 100 potential fatalities over the next 15 years. As a result, FAA determined that its existing requirements provided an appropriate course of action and no further reassessment was necessary at the time.

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Topics

AircraftAircraft maintenanceAirline regulationCommercial aviationFlammability standardsSafety regulationSafety standardsTransportation safetyAirlinesAviation