WORLD IN BRIEF : WASHINGTON, D.C. : Board Issues Alert on 767 Jet Engines

The National Transportation Safety Board, investigating the crash of a Lauda Air passenger jet in Thailand two months ago, issued a series of recommendations calling for the inspection of the Pratt & Whitney engines that power the Boeing 767. It also called for consideration of new emergency procedures should a thrust reverser on a 767 engine deploy while in flight. The safety board said the aircraft’s voice recorder revealed that a thrust reverser deployed in flight about nine minutes after the crew was alerted by a caution light to a potential problem with the plane’s left engine. The NTSB said it has been told by Boeing that flight crew emergency procedures may not provide timely guidance to avoid loss of control if thrust reversers deploy in flight. The Lauda Air jet crashed northwest of Bangkok on May 26, killing all 213 passengers and 10 crew members on board.