PROVIDENCE – Textron Inc. is being investigated by federal air crash investigators over its apparent failure to alert aircraft owners and pilots to flaws in its Lycoming engines, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing government and aviation industry officials.
Flaws in the engines, which power hundreds of Cessna and Piper aircraft, are believed to have caused two serious accidents since June, the Journal said, citing the government officials.
The Federal Aviation Administration issued an order requiring that crankshaft gear bolts on more than 1,000 Lycoming six-cylinder engines built between late 1996 and summer 1998 be replaced, the paper said. The FAA has already issued three emergency recalls since February on other problems with Lycoming engines, it reported.
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the series of events that first alerted Textron’s Lycoming unit and the FAA about failures of bolts on helicopter engines three-and-a-half years ago, and the subsequent failure of bolts in engines fitted to light aircraft, the Journal reported.
The NTSB wants to know why initial problems failed to generate public inspections or warnings; in the past three months five people have been killed and three injured because of Lycoming engine failures, the Journal said, citing unidentified NTSB staff. The NTSB and FAA confirmed they were investigating, and an unidentified Textron spokeswoman said the company was collaborating closely with the FAA, the paper said. (Bloomberg News)
Miriam Hospital lab receives
accreditation
PROVIDENCE – The laboratory for the Miriam Hospital has achieved accreditation for its “excellence of service” from the College of American Pathologists. The two-year accreditation means the lab meets of exceeds the standards of one of the most rigorous clinical laboratory inspections.
The CAP accreditation program is recognized by the federal government as being equal to or more stringent than the government’s own inspection program. Inspectors examine the records and quality control of the laboratory for the preceding two years and the education and qualifications of the staff, adequacy of the facilities, equipment, laboratory safety, and laboratory management to determine how well the facility is serving.
Miriam Hospital is a founding partner in the Lifespan health system and a leader in cardiac and cancer care. A 247-bed hospital, Miriam was founded 75 years ago by the Miriam Hospital Women’s Association.
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