That is probably true. The odds are that inspections will
not find any other similar cracks in the rest of the Chalk
fleet, I imagine that every Mallard, worldwide, will be
inspected soon. It is even possible that the crack that was
found was recent, metallurgical tests will have to be done
to know for sure. It is even possible that it was caused by
some defect dating back 50 years and was not visible on the
surface.

I'm sure that it will be fixed, too bad, a wing coming off
has only one recovery mode, parachute a la Cirrus.


--
James H. Macklin
ATP,CFI,A&P

"George Patterson" wrote in message
news:ixoqf.29956$CL.291@trnddc04...
| Jim Macklin wrote:
| Reports I saws this morning said that the NTSB said they
| found a fatigue crack in the main spar, maybe the
conversion
| was not done well or the maintenance was not though
enough.
| I'll bet the fleet is grounded and they require
immediate,
| "before further flight" NDT inspections of the wings,
etc.
|
| Chalk's has voluntarily grounded thier Mallards and is
performing an exhaustive
| test of the spars on one of them now. The NTSB rep voiced
the opinion that age
| alone would not be sufficient to cause this failure; some
additional stress
| would be required.
|
| George Patterson
| Coffee is only a way of stealing time that should by
rights belong to
| your slightly older self.