Posted by Oops I did it again on August 21, 2002 at 19:03:21:
In Reply to: Re: Remedial Mechanical Engineering posted by Chuck Tribolet on August 21, 2002 at 18:24:22:
What they also fail to mention is that there was a retrofit kit for that particular airframe that Aloha had not installed. Body cracking on the 737-200 had been reported on other airframes of that vintage, and Boeing responded properly with a retrofit.
The cause the FCC lists is metal fatigue. Aluminum is a horrible material for handling pressurization cycles. Probably why the shop I frequent rents steel tanks from the 1950s but hasn't got an AL80 older than about 1985.