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Sunday, April 20, 1997

FAA suspends test flights

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - The Federal Aviation Administration's decision to halt test flights and order procedural changes will not delay Mesa Airlines' planned start-up of commercial service, officials said.

"We found after making a few flights between Fort Worth and Houston that we needed to make some changes in our procedures," said Larry Risley, chairman and chief executive officer of Farmington, N.M.-based Mesa. "But we see no hurdles today that would prevent us from starting service as planned. We're looking forward to it and anticipating a May 5 start."

A scheduled 50 hours of federal proving tests were stopped this week after 18 hours of flights between Fort Worth Meacham International and Houston's Hobby airports.

Pilots were having trouble programming sophisticated navigation computers during the 40-minute trips between the two cities, the FAA said.

Officials cited 30 deficiencies, including a finding that ground crews must learn to do their jobs more efficiently if they are to avoid delaying some of the 11 daily flights scheduled from each city.

Other areas where the airline failed to make the grade included the use of the flight management computer and checklists, flight planning, ground handling and passenger loading, according to a letter sent to Mesa management.

Mesa and FAA officials called the delay in test flights part of the normal process of certifying an airline to begin passenger service with new airplanes at a new location. It is the first time any airline has attempted commercial jet service from the Fort Worth airport.

"This is not a safety issue, it's about the ability to operate efficiently in this kind of market," said Michael Zenkovich, the FAA official in charge of the government's oversight of Mesa.

Risley said he anticipated that the tests might be interrupted, so he had asked the FAA to conduct them early.

Mesa bought 16 Canadair jets, which seat 50 people, for use in its larger markets, including Texas.

"The Canadair is a brand new airplane, and it's a very fast airplane," Risley said. "Because we had no procedures manuals or fueling manuals, every procedure had to be developed and tested." Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
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