LOS ANGELES -- U.S. regulators proposed further inspections and pilot training affecting hundreds of older-model Bombardier Inc. aircraft, acknowledging that earlier directives failed to alleviate flight hazards on the popular regional jets.
The Federal Aviation Administration said that an earlier round of changes in maintenance, pilot training and dispatching practices "was not effective in reducing the number of flap failures" on the twin-engine aircraft. Those mandates and tight operating restrictions in cold weather were issued by U.S. and Canadian regulators starting in the summer of 2007. The goal was to eliminate persistent failures of flaps, the movable panels at the rear of the wings that are extended for additional lift during takeoffs and landings.
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