United grounds all 777s in fleet to check fire-suppression system

A United Airlines flight on a Boeing 777 from Japan to San Francisco is marked as canceled at San Francisco Airport yesterday. (paul sakuma/Associated Press)

UAL Corp.'s United Airlines, the largest US operator of Boeing Co. 777s, grounded its fleet of 52 of the wide-body jets after failing to make required checks of the planes' fire-suppression system.

The carrier canceled 38 of its 84 daily flights on 777s while working to finish the inspections by today, spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said. The Federal Aviation Administration said it didn't order the groundings.

United's disclosure may ramp up congressional pressure for tighter federal oversight of airline maintenance. It comes on the eve of a Washington hearing called by Representative James Oberstar, a House committee chairman who says the FAA has a "cozy" relationship with the carriers it regulates.

"Everyone is erring on the side of caution, partly to send a message that the system works and partly just to be cautious," said Richard Aboulafia, director of aviation for consulting firm Teal Group in Fairfax, Va.

The twin-engine 777 makes up about 11 percent of the 460-plane fleet at United, the world's second-largest airline. The Chicago-based carrier said it failed to test the firing mechanism on one of five canisters in the jets' cargo-bay firefighting system.

No breakdowns were found in the first 26 planes checked by the airline, nor were there any indications that the devices wouldn't have worked in the event of a fire, United spokeswoman Jean Medina said. United may have to cancel some flights today, she said.

"This is something required by their maintenance program," said Les Dorr, a spokesman for the FAA. "We didn't tell them to ground the planes."

Also yesterday, the FAA said four US airlines face investigations and possible fines for not following safety directives. It did not name the carriers.

Three are being probed for missed inspections, with two of those inquiries centered on wiring in wheel wells and the other focused on a failure to complete repetitive safety checks, FAA executives said. The fourth failed to file a plan to comply by 2028 with a long-term directive, the FAA said.

Among the grounded United planes is the jet carrying the White House press corps and some White House employees who are traveling with the president. The plane is in Bucharest, where President Bush is staying until tomorrow. The plane will be inspected and no delays are expected, a White House spokesman said.

United's lack of fire-system tests is the second maintenance issue discovered at the carrier since the FAA stepped up scrutiny of airline repairs last month. The agency proposed a $10.2 million fine against Southwest Airlines Co. on March 6 over missed inspections for fuselage cracks.

Last month, United had to retest instruments on seven Boeing 747s because inspection equipment was overdue to be calibrated. United and US regulators also are probing crossed landing-gear wires that may have caused two Airbus SAS A320 jets to skid off runways.