Boeing requests ELT inspection on aircraft

Boeing has asked airlines all over the world to inspect the Honeywell Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELT’s).

The service call has gone to certain operates operating:
– Boeing 717’s,
– Boeing 737NextGen (-600, 700, 800, 900 and 900ER),
– Boeing 747-400’s,
– Boeing 767’s
– Boeing 777 aircraft

To allow inspections the ELT ahead of a possible action by the Airworthiness authorities to address a potential fire risk.

Boeing states up to 1200 aircraft have been fitted with the Honeywell ELT device, and Boeing is asking the inspections take place within 10 days and report back.

Whilst Airbus has not issued such a request yet, their aircraft are fitted with the device, as are business jets. Additionally, they may had been fitted as an “aftermarket addition”, which would require these aircraft to be inspected too.

The request from Boeing came after the Ethiopian Airlines 787 on-board fire as an action from the AAIB bulletin

There have been other issues discovered with the 787, with pinched wires being discovered when inspecting the ELT location, with United Airlines and All Nippon Airlines finding damaged wiring in near the ELT.

However, with a massive inspection like this coming up, the more knowledge the better to cure planes of this possible issue.