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Black Marine that served four years active duty in the Infantry and six years in a special operations unit,A Co 4th Recon SATX. I have read the Rand reports and have heard all the myths,truths and half truths. I grew up as an Air Force brat at bases around the world until my father retired to a nice suburban neighborhood just outside Lackland AFB SATX(it’s a barrio and war zone these days). Guess you can say I had a privileged background compared to most black people and quite a few white people at the time.Even though I spent a lot of summers hanging around the neighborhood pools I was ranked a weak swimmer in boot camp and though out my years on active duty. The fact that I came in as a weak swimmer was my fault,but not being able to become a competent and confident swimmer while on active duty is the fault of the Marines and I will explain why: THE MARINES DO NOT PUT ENOUGH EMPHASIS ON COMBAT AND SURVIVAL SWIMMING. We are “suppose” to have a swim qual at least once a year like rifle/pistol qual,PFT and general military and MOS knowledge exams. Didn’t always work like that and when we did have swim quals there was no work up. You wake up one day and don’t do morning PT but around 0900 or 1400 the squad leader comes around and tells everyone to get into PT gear and bring your towel we are going to have swim qual today. No two to three week work up, just get in the pool,get wet,get out. You either qual at the lowest level or go unqualed. Going unqualed does not affect your MOS proficiency like going unqualed on the shooting range or getting a very low PFT or general MOS knowledge score so nobody cares if you can swim or not. Every once in a while some unit may get a Lt that swam in HS or college or a Plt Sgt that is a qualified swim instructor take the platoon to the pool to do some water work but as soon as that happens the Company Co or 1st Sgt comes around with a sarcastic “ So what are you doing training your troops for Recon?.” So no more pool time just more mindless platoon runs around the base.When I got off active duty to attend college I could have went to an infantry unit in Austin or Recon in San Antonio. I went Recon because I wanted the challenge and to do something different. Met with the Sgt Maj and he asked me if I could swim. I said not really. Sgt Maj said something like: “LISTEN CPL.YOU WILL LEARN TO SWIM,YOU WILL GO TO RECON SCHOOL,YOU WILL PASS RECON SCHOOL,IF NOT TAKE YOUR A%S UP THE ROAD TO AUSTIN OR HQ COMPANY YOU ARE OF NO USE IN A RECON TEAM IF YOU CANNOT SWIM.” Sooo… that was challenge one and I’m not even officially in the unit yet. About a week later I had to register for classes. The university did not require vets with 120 day active time to take PE but just as I finished getting all of my core classes I saw the table for swimming. Arrogantly I picked the intermediate course and told the not bad looking but very tall instructor why I was taking the course. I DQed on the underwater swim the first time out but within a few months I held the highest rating Water Safety Qualified (WSQ) and the next summer passed the course of instruction at the Amphibious Recon School Little Creek Va and received the MOS 0321 Recon Marine. I did some more advance training, got activated for Desert Storm but did not see combat,got promoted a few more times and by the end of my time was one of the Recon Platoon Commanders. So what am I saying in this long post? Black,White,purple no one can just walk into any SOF training selection and training course without the proper mental an physical preparation. As stated it’s not all physical,it’s mental and academic as well. Many of the failures were not making the minimum scores on written test and failing pass/fail practical field evaluations.As for blacks not being in infantry these days,there were plenty during my time in the 80’s and 90’s. Recon was a different story,only me and one other guy in my Company, 3 in Charlie and maybe 3 or 4 up in Anchorage,none in Billings or Albuquerque. Also saw about 3 with 3rd Force Recon out of Mobile when I did a courtesy drill during Christmas Break one year. Based on 3 or 4 black Recon Marines I saw with A Co 3rd Recon at K-Bay I will assume similar numbers of blacks in the other active duty Recon Battalions and Companies at the time.I can see the legacy of Vietnam as a lot of draftees from the inner cities and rural black south ending up on the front lines, poor whites and Chicanos too. But I also think recruiters have to recruit differently in the inner cities and have to place emphasis on tough boot camp training and becoming a Marine but also on technical and school opportunities to improve their lot in life . Lot of those dudes seen a lot of people shot up already. But FYI folks: NOT EVERY BLACK MARINE GREW UP IN DA HOOD. Lot of black Marines have been in the middle to upper class for generations :-) MmmOK? Not every White kid in the Infantry or Special Ops is a ridge runner from Tennessee or a state college graduate just doing this for kicks.

The answer is simple and it will make you think twice about flying. Throw away your conspiracy theories, the simplest answer is almost always the right one. I was involved in the commercial and military programs that were partially ignited by TWA 800. The issue was known but TWA 800 made it a priority. All this falls under what is termed “ The Aging Aircraft Wiring Systems” initiatives., which were launched in earnest by multiple organizations once the severity was understood. The aviation industry in general was caught off guard. The FAA, AFRL, NAVAIR/ NAVSEA, DARPA, NASA, NTSB, Sandia, major universities and all the airframe OEM’s, all had major programs launched. We had no technology to assess how bad things had become but the initial findings were very bad, I mean scary bad. In many cases, it was starting to look like it would be cheaper to scrap some aircraft than trying to fix them.What they discovered is that the wiring insulation lost a lot more of its insulation properties over time than what was anticipated and that wire clamping and routing had to be re engineered in many cases . All this is especially true in aircraft fuel tanks. Jet fuel isnt explosive unless it is a vapor. The last place you want a bare wire where arcing could take place is in a fuel tank. The more aircraft they inspected the red flags were hoisted ever higher. It was so bad that the FAA issued directives on certain model aircraft, restricting them to not fly below a certain fuel level in the tanks. This was to assure that the bare wire areas were always submerged in fuel, especially during takeoffs and landings.Since then a lot has been done, but it is still a big problem. The OEM’s and the FAA have been working towards fuel tank inerting systems. Systems that siphon off the fuel vapor and replace it with nitrogen, eliminating the explosion risk.Just dig around a bit on the FAA’s website to see the details and you will think twice about boarding an old aircraft.A final note. One of the big engineering mistakes identified as the likely cause of such an explosion was that the wiring harness bundles were not segregated by what the wires were doing. The fuel level indicator sensors in the fuel tanks are low voltage and low current. They are designed not to spark. During these investigations and research initiatives, the original wiring harness designs were reviewed for potential problems. Sure enough there were plenty.The biggest risk came from bundling high power and high voltage wires together in the same harness as the low voltage sensor wires. Anyone who has ever worked on cars as a hobby can tell you about being zapped by the ignition coil through the wire insulation. In an aircraft, its the perfect storm for catastrophe. So common sense seemed to have been left out of the design meetings on a lot of this. This was one of the first things that they started to fix with Airworthiness Directives from the FAA.The final words from flight 800 right before the explosion, the captain was recorded as saying, “Look at that crazy fuel flow indicator there on number four, see that? The likely spark that ended the flight.Inside a 747 center wing tank .. size of a roomwalkthrough the fuel tanks in below video to appreciate the volumeAdditional notes …I have added information on what has happened in the industry, due to the many comments on maintenance, in the sections below.An NTSB presentation from back when i was involved with this ntsbfueltanks.pptA couple of slides from the above NTSB presentation from 2007 ….lots of people asked if other planes have had the issue…here are severalJUST ADDED - For those who want the hard core details on the latest environmental testing on wires : http://www.tc.faa.gov/its/worldpac/techrpt/ar082.pdfUSA Today http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/washdc/2001-05-02-faa.htm05/01/2001 - Updated 11:31 PM ETFAA to issue strict fuel-tank safety rulesBy Alan Levin, USA TODAYNearly five years after TWA Flight 800 exploded, federal aviation officials plan within days to issue tough new fuel-tank safety standards. The Federal Aviation Administration's final regulations would apply new standards to the entire fleet of about 7,000 commercial aircraft, several aviation sources told USA TODAY. The agency has estimated the changes will cost airlines about $170 million.The long-awaited rules address safety recommendations from the TWA 800 accident, which killed 230. The rules will require more inspections of tanks and revamped designs.The FAA estimated that without any changes the world's airlines could expect a fuel-tank explosion once every 4½ years. Officials hope the new fuel-tank rules will stretch the time between explosions to about 15 years.Instead of settling the issue, however, the new rules are intensifying the debate over what additional steps are needed to prevent fuel-tank blasts.The FAA last year proposed injecting tanks with inert gas to prevent explosions. But airline officials in recent weeks told an FAA advisory group that inert gas will not be necessary with the new standards, several aviation sources say. The airline industry contends the risks are so small that the estimated $1.6 billion cost of using inert gas would be better spent solving other safety problems.This contradicts findings by the National Transportation Safety Board last year that the only way to eliminate fuel explosions is by using inert gas.Three jets have been destroyed by center fuel tank explosions since 1990. On March 3, one person died when a Thai Airways International jet parked at a terminal in Bangkok was destroyed. Investigators for the National Transportation Safety Board say preliminary evidence shows the jet's center fuel tank exploded.Among the steps being taken to reduce the risks is an effort to get airlines to decrease use of on-board air conditioners, which heat fuel tanks. Last week, the FAA also issued an emergency order to shut off pumps in empty 737 tanks.USA Today Air-cooling gear can heat tanks05/01/2001 - Updated 10:00 PM ETAir-cooling gear can heat tanksBy Alan Levin, USA TODAYEvery day this summer, thousands of jets will take off with fuel tanks holding a heated, explosive mix of gases.Despite dozens of safety measures enacted since TWA Flight 800 exploded in 1996, officials continue to debate whether fuel tanks are safe enough. In the wake of another deadly fuel tank explosion aboard a jet in Bangkok, Thailand, in March, USA TODAY sought to determine how airlines in this country are following one suggestion to help reduce the heat in fuel tanks.In some Boeing jets, tanks sit next to air-conditioning systems that blast them with heat. At normal temperatures, jet fuel is difficult to ignite. But when fuel vapors get hot enough, a single spark can set off an explosion capable of breaking a jet apart in flight. Three such fatal explosions have destroyed jets since 1990.In a change from just a few years ago, many jets now use cold air piped in from the airport terminal instead of using the aircraft's own air conditioning, USA TODAY found.But roughly half of all flights in summer months still use the jets' air-conditioning systems, according to information from pilots, airline spokesmen and government officials."I think the running of the air-conditioning packs on the ground is the most important contributor to the development of (explosive) vapor," says Bernard Loeb, the recently retired head of the National Transportation Safety Board's aviation accident investigation team.After the TWA explosion, which killed 230 people, the NTSB recommended that air conditioning from the terminal be used.Explosions are rare, but the FAA estimates that on the average jet, fuel tanks are flammable 35% of the time. That could be reduced to 25% with mandatory use of alternative air-conditioning sources. Most of that risk occurs on the ground or shortly after takeoff. Cooler air at high altitudes cools fuel tanks.Spokesmen for Boeing, which built the three jets that exploded, and airlines say the tanks are safe. "We don't believe that the carriers who continue to run the (air-conditioning) packs have created an unsafe condition," Boeing spokesman Tim Neale says.One year ago, Boeing issued a letter to its customers suggesting that, "when available," airlines pipe cool air in from the terminal rather than run the on-board air conditioners. Airline officials say they have increasingly begun using "ground-conditioned air" in recent years, but more for economic than safety reasons. Cooling a jet with a system on the ground is cheaper than running a jet's air conditioners.Large carriers such as American Airlines and United Airlines direct pilots to switch off on-board air conditioners at terminals with an alternative source of cool air, spokesmen said.Airlines say that virtually all the nation's large hub airports are now equipped with air-conditioning systems at terminals. Southwest Airlines, which often flies to alternative destinations, uses ground air conditioning at about half of its most popular destinations, and the number is growing, spokeswoman Beth Harbin said.Alternative air conditioning can help only so much, however. Pilots report that some widebody jets are too big to be cooled exclusively by outside air, so they must continue to run on-board conditioners. And many outlying airports do not offer air conditioning.Because a jet's interior heats up so quickly in the sun, pilots say they sometimes have no alternative but to operate on-board conditioners. "I'm going down to Cancun, Mexico, this afternoon," airline pilot David Heekin said recently. "You better believe I'm going to have the air-conditioning packs going full swing."On jets made by McDonnell Douglas, such as the MD-11 and MD-80, the air conditioners were not placed next to the fuel tank. (Boeing now owns McDonnell Douglas.) Airbus placed air-conditioning packs next to tanks on its jets, but the company insulated the tanks and vented the area to reduce heat.see footnote link for overview of industry best practice and regulations on aircraft wiring from the FAA as a direct result of these activities.[1]Analysis of wreckage by Rendon GroupDisasters waiting to happen ……Photo of Arc-through of In-tank Fuel Pump Housing representative of post-accident inspection program (not from TWA 800) More aircraft would have shared the same or similar fate as TWA 800. We got lucky and fixed the problems first.Further ReadingAircraft Maintenance -The Inspection Process from http://www.coopind.com/news_AvMaint-WireMaintenance.htmOngoing wiring inspection is part of any aircraft’s regular safety check process. “In various checks (A/C/D-check) wiring is controlled visually for cleanness, cracks, chafing, color change and installation,” Arntz said. “This is done according to Original Equipment Manufacturer Standard Practice Manuals and EWIS (Electrical Wiring Interconnection System) tasks incorporated into the Aircraft Maintenance Program.”Still, unless something obvious happens—shortly before the explosion on TWA Flight 800, the captain was recorded as saying, “Look at that crazy fuel flow indicator there on number four, see that?”—electrical problems can go unnoticed. This is why such problems may not be found until the C- or D-Check, when “an aircraft is pretty much disassembled down to its bones,” said Frank Correro, StandardAero’s avionics manager in Springfield, Ill. “This is when technicians have their best opportunity to look at all of the aircraft’s wiring, to spot and rectify problems.” The only exceptions are self controlling systems built into an aircraft system that identify faults through BITE (Built-in Test Equipment) tests, and power wires that are specifically monitored with load control units (circuit breakers) to indicate system failure and protect wiring.Sometimes equipment manufacturers can help when aircraft wiring problems are identified in the shop. “Recently, HARCO was asked to look at a harness that had been in service for 20 years,” Gannon said. “The harness, which measured exhaust gas temperatures mated to probes, required exposed ring terminals to be fastened to the probe stud.” Now such an exposed ring terminal can invite moisture, which can reduce the insulation resistance of a wire harness. To address this, “Harco introduced some features to prevent the harness from absorbing water that improved the insulation resistance properties of the harness, and prevented false warning indicators from being triggered in the cockpit,” he said.What to Look ForUnfortunately for aircraft maintenance technicians, there is no advanced handheld device that can be waved over aircraft wires, to detect faults quickly and reliably. Instead, it takes careful visual inspections of wiring bundles, along with manipulation of wires for flexibility and signs of cracking, to detect problems before they become serious.“The problem is that most mechanics are not given extensive training in wiring inspection,” said Paul Sneden. He is an instructor at Global Jet Services. Based in Weatogue, Conn., Global Jet Services offers a range of professional development and continuing educations courses for aircraft technicians, including a week-long course in wiring inspection and maintenance that is used by MROs such as StandardAero. “They need extra hand-on training to identify and deal with the many signs of deteriorating aircraft wiring.”So what should mechanics be looking for when inspecting aircraft wiring? In general, anything that doesn’t look like factory-standard, Sneden replied. Ideally, wiring bundles should be secure but not under stress, with all clamps in place and properly locked. Exterior insulation should be unbroken and uncracked, and it should continue to be when flexed by hand to spot any hidden damage.Aging, faulty wiring is also thought to have contributed to the cockpit fire on Swissair 111 on September 2, 1998. While suggestive, the Canadian TSB investigation was unable to confirm if arcing from wiring of the in-flight entertainment system was the main event that ignited the flammable covering on insulation blankets that quickly spread across other flammable substances.Any form of staining is bad news. It could point to fluid leaking onto the wires, or deterioration of the wire’s insulation. “Similarly, any sign of chafing, charring, burning or arcing is not to be dismissed,” said Sneden. “The bundle needs to be removed and inspected, and if need be replaced.”That’s not all. Any signs of damage on wiring could be evidence of failures in other parts of the aircraft’s systems and airframe. The causes for wiring damage need to be tracked back to the source, so that these problems can be dealt with as well.A rule of thumb is the older and/or more used the aircraft, the more likely that the wiring is suffering from age-related deterioration. Since aircraft 20 years or older fall into the ‘aging’ category, mechanics need to be extra-vigilant when working on anything made in 1993 or earlier.Unfortunately, until the current wave of airline fleet renewals is over, MROs will find themselves coping with an increasing number of aging aircraft on a daily basis. The problem of wire deterioration is thus considered to be so serious, that “EWIS has been incorporated as a preventive measure to monitor wire aging,” said SR Technics’ Arntz. “Therefore it can be stated that on condition maintenance has been changed to a more preventive maintenance concept for wiring.”So far, “a complete re-wiring of aged wires is not yet a part of the rulemaking agenda,” he added. But this might change as active air fleets get older and if more aging wire issues emerge.Vigilance is VitalIf there is a moral to this tale, it is that aircraft wiring is a difficult-to-service element that must be monitored, inspected and maintained as rigorously as engines and avionics. The losses of TWA Flight 800 and Swissair Flight 111 point to the devastating consequences that can occur should this not happen.from An overview of the aircraft wiring issueBy David Evans, Editor Aviation Maintenance- Reprinted courtesy of Aviation Maintenance/Access IntelligenceThe potential hazard posed by bad aircraft wiring has generated a tremendous amount of activity in the industry. Some operators now treat wiring as a system, meriting attention during maintenance equivalent to the black boxes and other electrical components to which the wire is attached. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposal for fleetwide inspection of wiring in zones containing combustable materials or wiring within two inches of hydraulic, mechanical or electric flight controls could well involve a whole new - albeit necessary - burden on aircraft maintainers.The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) lent added urgency to the need for wiring inspections with its late June press conference, timed shortly before the 10 th anniversary of the TWA Flight 800 disaster, to reinforce and restate the Board’s concern about fuel tank safety and aging, cracked and deteriorated wiring. Recall that the accident airplane, an old B747-100, blew up shortly after takeoff from New York’s JFK International Airport on July 17,1996, for an overnight flight to Paris.All 230 aboard were killed when flammable vapors in the center wing fuel tank exploded. Electrical arcing in a bundle of wires outside the fuel tank produced a surge of current that passed down a fuel quantity indication system (FQIS) wire. As the Board noted in its press release of June 29, “The ignition of the flammable fuel/air mixture in the tank was attributed to an electrical failure.”Chafing the Dominant ProblemTo be sure, numerous airworthiness directives (Ads) have been issued since the TWA disaster, mandating wiring and other modifications to ensure electrical system safety. While the FAA does not have good records on the incidence of wire failures in the commercial industry, the U.S. Navy has amassed considerable information and insight. Navy data suggests that as many as one million man hours are spend annually in troubleshooting, isolating, locating and fixing wiring faults. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) data suggests that nearly as many hours are spent on unscheduled wiring maintenance as on scheduled maintenance.Further, the data collected by NAVAIR indicated that chafing contributed to more than a third (37%) of all wiring failures on Navy aircraft during the period 1980-1999. Moreover, despite the fact that chafing, or the erosion of insulation and the exposure of conductor, is a known problem, and the tools to resolve it are available, analysis of data from the years 2000 to 2004 show that chafing remained the leader of all wire failure modes on Navy aircraft.Perhaps the closest to an industry wide measure for the commercial side comes from the fleet wide inspections mandated by the FAA for fuel system wiring on the B737 fleet in 1998. The inspections were directed after fuel was observed leaking from a conduit for wiring that had been opened by electrical arcing. All B737 operators were required to report their findings to the FAA. The inspections revealed a clear relationship between aircraft age and the severity of the severity of the problems found. Fully 30% of aircraft with more than 70,000 hours were found with severe chafing and bare wires.That is twice the percent found on B737s with fewer than 70,000 hours. Some commercial operators have raised awareness of good wiring husbandry and practices to be avoided. For example, United Air Lines has widely distributed a poster outlining the do’s and don’ts for wiring maintenance.United’s laudable effort notwithstanding, we offer below a somewhat broader perspective of the aircraft wiring issue, including a contrarian view to the search for ever thinner and lighter wire insulation.Wiring 101The amount matters. Modern jets contain 100-200 miles of wiring running into every nook and cranny of the airplane. To borrow a biological metaphor, the wiring is akin to the body’s nervous system.The trend matters. New jets feature more wiring carrying more current (the advent of wireless systems is reversing this trend). The cabin area of a new-production jet, for example, features wiring for such things as in-flight entertainment systems. A measurement the electric power generating capacity of 1st, 2nd, and current generation jets of comparable passenger-carrying capability would show a steady increase in aircraft electric power generating capability.Protection matters, Fire detection and suppression is inadequate. Enough electric power for a medium-size office building is concentrated in the electrical and equipment (E&E) bay located under the cockpit. The E&E bay has neither fire detection nor suppression. A runaway electrical fire downed Swissair Flight 111 in Sept. 1998; a month later a Delta Airlines L-1011 experienced an electrical fire behind the flight engineer’s panel, in a location where hand extinguishers were virtually useless. With about 100 miles remaining on a flight from Hawaii to California, the crew effected an emergency landing at San Francisco. This airplane could easily have been “another Swissair,” involving an airplane of U.S. registry.Age matters. Wiring is not immortal; it ages in service. Over time, the insulation can break, exposing conductor. Exposed conductors create a fertile field for ticking faults, spurious signals and, worse, full-blown electrical arcing. Any carrier with a significant population of its aircraft having 10 or more years’ service has an aging wire problem.Location matters. Wiring is subject to changes in temperature, moisture, vibration and chafing. In some areas of the aircraft, such as in the leading/trailing edges of the wing, the landing gear wheel wells, etc., the physical stresses are higher than in more protected areas (e.g., the cabin)Installation matters. Sharp bend radii, improperly supported wire bundles, mixed insulation types in the same bundle, routing high and low power circuits in the same bundle, to name a few sins, can exacerbate the known environmental effects. Arcing in a vertically oriented bundle is more hazardous than in one running horizontally. One might suggest the large wire bundles indicate an electrical wiring philosophy based on ease of installation during manufacture, not necessarily ease of maintenance for the operator.Type matters. Certain types of wire insulation, notably aromatic polyimide, have known properties of hardness, vulnerability to cracking, and the tendency to arc spectacularly. Indeed, the carbonized insulation under arcing conditions itself becomes a conductor, spreading the danger literally with the speed of lightning.Maintenance matters. Wiring can be damaged during maintenance of other aircraft components, largely because technicians are unaware of the potential hazard created by stepping on a bundle or yanking it in such a way that brittle insulation is damaged further. Another major problem is unrelated maintenance damaging the wire. For example, drilling into aluminum structure creates shavings, called swarf. If those bits of swarf fall onto wire, they can eventually cut or wear through insulation, giving rise to intermittent (or worse) electrical failures. To be sure, it takes time to put a cover over the wires while drilling, then folding up the covers and removing them from the airplane. But it may take less time than involved in finding swarf-related faults in the wiring weeks or months later.The military’s experience matters. Some industry officials believe the U.S. military’s experience is not relevant jets are exposed to higher maneuvering loads and to harsher operating environments. On the other hand, the military’s experience with a jet designed with a 6,000 hour service life may be highly relevant to an airliner with a design service goal of 60,000 hours. The airliner is exposed to lower extremes over an order of magnitude longer period of time. In this respect, the military’s experience may be considered a form of accelerated aging from which the commercial side of the aerospace industry could learn much.Inspection types matter. Visual inspections are not enough. Eyeballing the wiring in a jet may uncover only a third or less of the insulation breaches exposing conductor. Yet technologies can be mobilized to quantify the state of wiring in an airplane, and to assess the amount of life remaining. These techniques can be used to target a cost-effective program of selective wire replacement.A Broad ViewThe airline industry may be at a place with respect to wiring that it was a decade ago with aging structure. The physical structure of an airliner now is built to be damage tolerant. That is, the airplane is designed such that structural components feature sufficient residual strength to withstand the weakening effects of fatigue cracking, say; from a tiny flaw that may lurk unseen somewhere in the structure from the day it leaves the factory. Recall that when damage tolerant structure was being debated, the manufactures worried the added weight would drive them out of the airplane building business and into the manufacture of railroad rolling stock.As it turned out, damage tolerant design added about 1,000 lbs. (454 kg) to the weight of a DC-10 while greatly extending its service life. Damage tolerant structure is now considered the norm.Wiring however, is not damage tolerant. As a weight saving measure, the thickness of the insulation has been shaved to minimum. In some wires, the insulation is about the thickness of four human hairs laid side-by-side. Or, as one expert observed, the industry is about “four hairs from electrocution.” Indeed, many of the problems of chafing, etc. elucidated above would not be the threats they are if the insulation was about four times thicker. Admittedly, this is kind of a brute-force approach, but by one estimate thickening the insulation would add about 200 pounds (91 kg) to the weight of wiring in a widebody jet.That’s about the equivalent weight of magazines and catalogues in the seat-back pockets. Perhaps a philosophy of damage tolerant electrical system design is only a matter of time—and certainly it is within the current state-of-the-art.Other potential improvements are numerous. Heavier insulation could be made an available option during manufacture. High power and low power wires could be better segregated. Connectors could be better separated, too and not all bunched together so that an electrical arc can jump from one to another. Longer- life circuit breakers could be installed as original equipment, saving considerable money over the long haul.Fire detection and suppression in the electronics and equipment (E&E) bay, and other unprotected areas where electrical systems are concentrated, could be insisted upon. The reduced maintenance costs, higher dispatch reliability, and fewer precautionary landings would, over the life of the airplane, more than offset the purchase cost of such features and protections.Brief Timeline on Flight 800 and the Fuel Tank Inerting FAA initiatives as a direct resultJuly 17, 1996 At about 2031 EDT, TWA flight 800, a Boeing 747-13, broke up in flight with a loss of life of all 230 passengers and crew. The crash debris fell into the Atlantic Ocean south of East Moriches, Long Island, NY. The accident investigation was one of the longest and most expensive in the NTSB's history. A substantial fraction of the aircraft was recovered and reconstructed, and numerous studies were carried in the effort to determine the probable cause. The Explosion Dynamics Laboratory at Caltech was asked by the NTSB to participate in the investigation and lead a group of researchers to examine the issues of fuel flammability, ignition, and flame propagation. EDL staff were involved from the fall of 1996 until the final hearing in August 2000.December 13, 1996 Safety Recommendation Letter A-96-174 published.TO THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION: Require the development of and implementation of design or operational changes that will preclude the operation of transport-category airplanes with explosive fuel-air mixtures in the fuel tank: (a) significant consideration should be given to the development of airplane design modifications, such as nitrogen-inerting systems & the addition of insulation between heat-generating equipment & fuel tanks. Appropriate modifications should apply to newly certificated airplanes &, where feasible to existing airplanes.May 20, 1997 Added fuel tank flammability reduction to the Ten-Mosted Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvements:"Reduce the potential for explosive fuel-air mixtures in fuel tanks of transport category aircraft. The NTSB has urged the FAA to make operational changes. They include refueling the center wing tank from cooler ground fuel tanks before flight, monitoring temperatures and maintaining a proper minimum amount of fuel in the tanks."December 8-9, 1997 NTSB Investigative hearing.August 22 and 23, 2000 Final hearing by NTSB and announcement of probable cause.2002 Fuel-tank inerting added to Ten-Most Wanted List (removed in 2008)Feb 17, 2004 The FAA announced that it is considering issuing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPR) requiring a fuel tank inerting system to be installed on existing aircraft with center wing tank flammability hazards.Feb 15, 2005 The FAA issued the special conditions for the certification of the flammability reduction means (FRM) or fuel tank inerting system proposed by Boeing for the 747 family of aircraft. This system will use hollow fiber membranes to generate "nitrogen enhanced air" to fill the vapor space of the center fuel tank in order to reduce the O2 concentration below 12% for a sufficient duration of the flight that the center fuel is not flammable for greater than 3% of the fleet operational time.Nov 15, 2005 The FAA has finally put on public display the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on fuel tank inerting.November 23, 2005 The (NPRM) was published in the Federal register.March 21, 2006 The FAA has extended the deadline for comment on the NPRM to May 8, 2006.July 12, 2006 From the NTSB website: "The investigation into a wing fuel tank explosion on a Transmile Airlines B-727 airplane in Bangalore, India, on May 4, 2006, is ongoing. The evidence indicates that an explosion in the left wing fuel tank destroyed the structural integrity of the wing."July 21, 2008 The FAA has issued the the final rule: "Reduction of Fuel Tank Flammability in Transport Aircraft." The rule requires retrofitting of certain aircraft with heated center wing tanks and use of flammability reduction means (inerting systems) or ignition mitigation means (foam) on future aircraft to meet a target flammability exposure of 3% fleet average flammability and specific risk of 3% during ground operation and climb out on warm day, above 80 F. The present value of the total compliance cost is estimated by the FAA to be 1 billion USD. Boeing has developed and placed into production inerting systems based on hollow fiber membrane technology for the 747 and 737 typeOctober 16, 2008 Safety Recommendation A-96-174 closed as an acceptable action.More detailsFAA Lessons LearnedNASA Analysis https://sma.nasa.gov/docs/default-source/safety-messages/safetymessage-2011-01-09-twa800inflightbreakup.pdf?sfvrsn=4http://pe.org.pl/articles/2013/7/5.pdfhttps://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Advisory_Circular/AC%2025_981-1.pdfFootnotes[1] https://www.faa.gov/training_testing/training/air_training_program/job_aids/media/ewis_job-aid_2.0_printable.pdf

Oct. 2016 —Do Yakuza still exist in Japan?Oh yeah.The first time I ran across Yakuza was quite a while back, about 35 years ago when I first moved to Japan. It was after a late night stint at the local English conversation school, and a female, fellow American friend and I stopped off at a Yatai, a kind of open-air food stall seating about 6 people, along the Tagawa river front in downtown Utsunomiya. I was probably having gyoza (dumplings) or oden (stew), along with my nightly bottle of beer, and the Japanese guy sitting next to me struck up a conversation.His English, though not great, was passable and more than that, he was the one that initiated the conversation, probably with more than a passing interest in the American woman sitting on the other side of me ... a former Cherry Blossom Queen from Hawaii. He introduced himself as a ‘Yakuza — Japanese Mafia’. I laughed and said something to the effect of ‘Oh sure … like with the missing finger and tatoos’.Smiling, he held up his hand, and I just about pissed my pants when I saw he was missing a joint on one of his fingers. Now, in a much more deferential tone of voice, even though I am a non-smoker, I accepted his offer of a cigarette. Used to smoke a little pot back in my college days back in the states, so what the hell … go for it, or so I thought.One drag, and I was gagging, gasping, and reaching for that bottle of beer. It was a tiny little fag called ‘Golden Bat’ … no filter.Other than getting a belly laugh and a swig of sake out of him, I can’t remember much of the rest of the night.I guess I got my revenge though. Just a couple of nights ago (early Oct. 2019), I caught the television news that the 113 year winning streak of that bat was up. Japan Tobacco to Ax 113-Year-Old Golden Bat Cigarette Brand—————————————————————————————————————The second time, was several years later in Tokyo. I was, and still am, an avid boater and salt-water fisherman. I have a Japanese 1st class pleasure boat license (kogata sempaku) — and for anyone familiar with Japanese TV here, Becky’s dad — Simon, and Wolfgang - a German, and myself were the only three foreigners taking the course at that time, about 30 years ago.I have bought and upgraded boats several times (sighing). Yeah, especially in Japan — a boat is a hole in the water through which you pour money.My 3rd boat, was a twin diesel in/out, 33 foot Yanmar cabin cruiser with a fly bridge — 2nd hand, so not nearly as expensive as it sounds. I had it moored about a mile or so up the Kyu-Edogawa (the Old Edo River) which empties into Tokyo Bay right beside Disneyland/Disney Sea.This is not my boat … but the same model:Sometimes on a Saturday night, I would pop into the cabin of neighboring boaters and have a beer or two with them while exchanging fishing lies, and occasionally, we would take a small flotilla of 5 or 6 boats for overnight trips to Atami or Izu Oshima … do a little fishing and a lot of drinking.I used to take students, teachers, and friends for night cruises closer to my mooring … drop anchor in the canal in front of Kasai Rinkai Koen (Aquarium Sea-Park). Looking at the pic, the canal is in front of the dome, the Kyu Edogawa on the far side, and Disney Land on the opposite bank (mostly Disney hotels in the pic).And we would wait for the 8 pm fireworks, and open the snacks and drinks.Or if it was later, and had guests of drinking age, we would cruise over to the backside of Odaiba, drop anchor, pop the corks, and watch the ferris wheel go round and round and round and round … and you get the picture.Odaiba is a very popular micro-bay, just between the Tokyo Bay Bridge (Rainbow Bridge) and Fuji TV’s studio. Sooner or later, will get around to scanning some of my old, pre-digital photos, but for now, a few from the net to get the lay of the land — and sea. A map of the area …And a night view from the north looking south, near the entrance of the Sumida river, and you can see the traditional flat bottomed Japanese party boats (yakatebune) which we jostled for mooring places with …And music from this album was typical for my night cruising rotation list … great night music.And no view would be complete without the Rainbow Bridge which spans Odaiba’s northeast entrance. Here is a pic looking from Odaiba to the northwest — along with that god-awful tacky Statue of Liberty replica.“Give me your tired, your poor,/ Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” — ?There are a lot of good things about Japan, but a land of immigrants it is not. More like ‘give us your tourist dollars, then leave’ … but that’s another tale for another time ;-)The cabin of my boat was big enough to sit maybe 5 or 6, but sometimes that was too small for all the college kids who wanted to take night cruises on Tokyo Bay or go to Odaiba.But one of the wealthier boater-buddies had either a Hatteras or a Bertram, 50 foot or so, with a cabin somewhat ‘plush’ (think Elvis Presley portrait in crushed-velvet) complete with Karaoke.He was a well known Yakuza boss who had some ‘business’ in the Kabuki cho area. Still remember his name ... 'Fujinami' … as he was featured in an issue of Focus magazine.In retrospect, mooring on the Edo river is one of the few options that Yakuza have for such water oriented leisure activities. Most marinas are like private clubs, like private owned onsens (hot springs), and anyone with tattoos or missing digits are not given membership. But there he was, moored on river-water fresh enough to avoid the yearly scraping of barnacles.I knew him as a fellow boater, but I noticed he always had a couple of his soldiers with him. I did not want to know anything about the ‘business’, so I didn’t ask, and he didn’t talk. But he was fairly handsome, quite generous with his friends, but a joint of one of his fingers was indeed missing showing he had f•cked up at least once.One time, when I had more students than my boat could comfortably hold, I accepted his ‘generous?’ offer to take me and the students on a Tokyo Bay night cruise.But once the cocktails started flowing and the Karaoke machine got cranked up, I had to keep a close watch on the students — as ‘young women’ were also a large part of his business, this was NOT one of the songs on my playlist on his boat …They were safe that night, but I had to keep a close eye peeled on 'em. One such night trip with Fujinami was enough.But that was a few years ago. Now a different marina, no yakuza, and a traditional, Japanese-style fishing boat. Too small for cocktails or parties, but it gets me to the Izu islands where I still go fishing with my buddies and former students … and would not be surprised to see someone pull into Habu no Minato from my old pre-Jack Sparrow, Disney days.ps. Tuesday March 22, 2016 updateFor the past several months, there have been outbreaks of violence in the largest criminal organization in Japan, the Yamaguchi Gumi, and even deaths of innocent bystanders ... The yakuza: Inside Japan's murky criminal underworldI was talking about this with the boss of my marina, who still has some underused connections with the original group. Still out of work and looking for a job, I smiled and said 'Yoroshiku' ... implying I would not turn down a job interview with either one of the factions. I figure I still have enough phalanges to play the Yojimbo card ;-)If for no other reason, I might get back in touch with my 'friend' from the mooring on the kyu-edogawa for this reason ... a quote from the Wikipedia link Yakuza.Yakuza's aid in Tōhoku catastropheFollowing the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011, the yakuza sent hundreds of trucks filled with food, water, blankets, and sanitary accessories to aid the people in the affected areas of the natural disaster. CNN México said that although the yakuza operates through extortion and other violent methods, they "[moved] swiftly and quietly to provide aid to those most in need." Such actions by the yakuza are a result of their knowing of what it is like to "fend for yourself," without any government aid or community support, because they are also considered "outcast" and "dropouts from society". In addition, the yakuza's code of honor (ninkyo) reportedly values justice and duty above anything else, and forbids allowing others to suffer.On the other hand, after reading My very brief fight with a yakuza, maybe I'll just stick to writing Quora posts from the safety of my futon.———————————Edit, Aug. 19, 2019 … an article from JapanToday Aug. 17 regarding Odaiba being cancelled as a place safe for swimming in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics … and my extended comment.Tokyo 2020 paratriathlon test shortened due to bad water quality?Aug. 1704:02 pm JST30 CommentsBy Charly TriballeauTOKYOThe swimming section of a paratriathlon test event for Tokyo 2020 was cancelled Saturday due to high levels of bacteria in the water, the latest in a series of difficulties over water quality and temperature.The International Triathlon Union (ITU) shelved the swimming leg after tests showed levels of e-coli more than double the acceptable standard.The 70 paratriathletes instead competed in a "duathlon" format with two runs and a bike race.It was the most recent disappointment at a test event for Tokyo 2020 organizers, after the women's triathlon run was also cut short due to extreme heat in the Japanese capital.Despite this, French triathlete Cassandre Beaugrand was taken to hospital with suspected heatstroke.Around a dozen competitors and spectators fell ill at a rowing test event, also due to high temperatures, as Tokyo swelters through a deadly heatwave."I'm so sorry for athletes that we could not prepare the competition conditions effectively," Shinichiro Otsuka, managing director of Japan's Triathlon Union, told reporters."It was regrettable," he said, vowing to step up preparations for Sunday's Mixed Relay, the last in the four-day competition.Former British paralympic triathlete Clare Cunningham tweeted that staging a duathlon was "a completely different race" that "puts some athletes at a huge disadvantage racing in their tri classification.""Disappointing for all," said Cunningham.Tokyo 2020 organizers have won widespread praise for their preparations but extreme summer heat and poor water quality have given them a headache at test events, with less than a year to go until the Olympic opening ceremony.Competitors at a marathon swimming test event on Sunday complained of smelly water and high water temperature at Odaiba Bay, the location for long-distance swimming and triathlon.Organizers are desperate to avoid the embarrassment of the Rio Olympics in 2016, when the pool used for diving events turned an unsettling shade of green overnight.Brazilian officials also had to scramble to clean up the bay used for sailing and windsurfing that was plagued by sewer bacteria and filthy with rubbish.In October 2017, Tokyo 2020 organizers were left red-faced after tests revealed levels of e-coli bacteria more than 20 times higher than international standards, sparking doubts about the venue's safety.At the time, the organizing committee blamed prolonged summer rain that had brought pollutants from offshore for the high readings between late July and early September.A year later, organizers said that tests using underwater "screens" to filter the water had successfully reduced bacteria levels at the venue.They tested single and triple-layer screens -- some 20 meters long and three meters wide -- and found that both were effective in bringing bacteria down to safe levels although the triple screen, expected to be employed during games time, worked best.© 2019 AFPSteve MartinAug. 1809:07 am JSTI couldn't help but to chuckle at the choice of Odaiba for a swimming event to begin with. For any kind, indulgent readers, please permit me to explain.Getting a kogata sempaku (small boat operator's license) in Japan is actually easier than getting a car driver's license, and if you can speak just a little Japanese, you can get the textbooks (if not the lecture), and take the class in English.Like many license granting tests in Japan, while many of the instructors are quite good, an old salt knows that when it comes to the sea, experience is the best, maybe 'only', teacher — so what you are paying for is mostly access to a copy of the previous year's exam and answers, which as 'tradition' dictates in a bureaucratically bound society, will most likely be the same as the previous year's test.Being a fishing-otaku, I took my undergrad in Marine Biology from the states (UNC-W), as mostly a lame excuse to head offshore for high times on the high seas. And soon after arriving to Japan some 36 years ago, I took the course for what was at that time a 1st class private boat license (out of 4 levels) permitting me to captain a boat of up to 20 tons. Now it is much easier and there are only 2 designations for the license (1st and 2nd class) catering to the jet-ski market.There were only three in my class at the time, all about my age, a German multilingual-translator running his own company, myself, and another English speaking guy running his own chain of English schools ... whose daughter many readers will of heard of, TV talent 'Becky'.And so, before getting married, which would likely rule out the question of buying a boat (which would be the mistress?), I began an often one-sided love affair with a series of 7 or 8 ocean-worthy boats.The reader might be surprised to learn that the 2nd hand boat market, though smaller than the market in the bubble era, can turn up some beauties for little more than the price of a family car. I don't regret the lifestyle choice, and have dozens of hilarious, and sometimes scary stories from the high seas off the coast of Japan. But boats can be a cruel mistress — as they say, 'a hole in the water through which you pour money'. I never did get married.During one of my sea-faring flings, I kept a twin engine, diesel powered, 30 foot Yanmar cruiser on the Kyu-Edogawa, just up the river from Tokyo Disneyland. It was not one of my better fishing boats, but to be fair, it was made to party : having twin steering stations … one inside the salon which had a small dining area seating a half dozen or more, a smaller kitchen complete with fridge and microwave, a small head (private restroom), and a plush and private double wide bedroom-berth in the front for overnight stays ... the other station being driven atop a flybridge from which the captain and a few guests could enjoy a panoramic view of the Tokyo skyline, an especially gorgeous pallet of neon, stretched across the privacy of the jet black waters of Tokyo Bay at night.I sometimes used to take guests for an early evening cruise down the river, and drop anchor in front of the small channel at Kasai Rinkai Koen, pop the wine corks and watch the nightly fireworks at Disneyland, not more than a few hundred meters away. On longer trips, the other boat owners and I would take 3 or 4 day cruises down to Atami, or the Izu Islands, mostly Oshima, but occasionally as far as Miyakejima, and do a little fishing, and a lot of drinking and partying.But the most often chosen option in my Jack Sparrow days, was to load up with guests, and take a night cruise to Odaiba, drop anchor, turn on the jazz (Salena Jones 'Night Moods' was a favorite), pop the wine corks, chat and gaze at the beauty of it all ... the brightly lit Odaiba shoreline, Rainbow Bridge, and Tokyo at night, from the privacy of our own room-and-balcony-on-the-sea.As in the photo above, the yakate-bune (traditional party boats), each with maybe 20 to 50 party goers eating and drinking the night away, would cruise in and do likewise, boats occasionally so close to each other, that when the winds picked up, we and the yakate-bune often had to give our 'gomen nasais', raise anchor, gun the engines, and idle over to a less intrusive part of Odaiba to keep from bumping into each other or getting anchor ropes entangled. And this would go on until the yakate-bune returned to their docks, while we stayed on til way past the witching hour, enjoying it all to ourselves.But there's a nasty little secret to those yakate-bune, then, if not now.Like my cruiser, they had toilets. But unlike private cruisers, there was no holding tank for the waste, Like a lot of traditional Japanese fishing boats (tsuri-bune) that ply those same waters in the daytime, it was just a tiny, enclosed shack near the back of the boat, and when you lifted the toilet lid, there was Tokyo Bay, staring back at you ... even less environmentally regulated than Thailand at the time.I can think of three reasons Odaiba was popular for boaters:1 — one being the previously mentioned night view,2 — and another being easy access to the small day-time tsuri-bune ... traditional charter fishing boats, captained by professionals catering to the occasional hobby fishermen and/or their families.3 — But the third reason was a bit more problematic.It is easy to drop anchor there, even in large numbers, because the enclosed shape of Odaiba's tiny bay allowed for very little current, even with the rise and fall of the tides.'So what’s the problem?' … one might reasonably ask.Well, remember those toilets I described on the traditional boats ... the ones with just an enclosed hole over the water ... the water that has very little current?Well, the fishing is great there..Those little gobys (‘haze’ in Japanaese) are plumper and juicier than typical gobys, and with their sh•t-eating grin, must be filled with all kinds of nutrients.But I think I’ll pass.And I imagine the windsurfers or swimmers who touch down and actually walk in those waters will feel a nice, squishy texture of unique … uh … ‘mud’ … between their toes.And hence my own special name for the waters of a favorite play-spot ... Odaiben ... still good for a chuckle or two for those in the know. (My oof the cuff mix of two words … ‘Odaiba’ the name of the resort area, and ‘daiben’, the word for those sinkers or floaters one normally finds in the toilet.)But damn, who would've thought that place as a venue for an Olympic swimming event?My guess is just ‘follow your nose’ ... uh ... ‘the money’.Cheers all, but swimmers beware.And if that fried goby and beer tastes especially good this summer, just chalk it up to that Lion King — Circle of Life' thingy. 😂