ere wasn't enough direct physical evidence to prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt, however subsequent investigations of aircraft that were as old as the 747 on Flight 800 - twenty five years - showed wiring cracks and fraying in a manner consistent with the theories advanced about the crash of Flight 800 (Adcock 08). The Federal Aviation Agency has since initiated an aging aircraft program with the goal of inspecting the wiring harnesses of older aircraft to see if stepped up inspection and/or replacement were warranted. So far the results show a definite need for the increased maintenance requirements (Adcock 08). When the United States Air Force began to retrofit it's aging fleet of 707 aircraft for use in the Gulf War, it was discovered that the aircraft were in need of complete wiring harness replacement due to cracks and fraying in the current harnesses ("Air Safety Week"). This is not as uncommon a situation as one might think. The safety record of the United States Airlines has remained unparalleled with fewer loss of life accidents per flight than any other airline in the world. The problem that is now being faced is one where there are more aircraft remaining in service much longer than their original design dates. The reasons for this are two fold. The first reason is that the aircraft were originally designed very well and proved to be more resilient than originally thought. The second reason is strictly financial. It is very expensive to purchase new aircraft and it has proven to be a lot less expensive to perform extended maintenance and refit operations on the aging aircraft than to purchase new ones (Adcock 08). The results of these decisions are now being seen in the form of increased accidents and smaller "incidents" with the aircraft in service today. The age of the aircraft in today's airline inventory is not the only factor that has seen a decade of increasing accidents. The maintenance of every aircraft flown by an ...
