"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.

How frequently were these airplanes operated off of water? Wouldn't water
takeoff's and landings typically be more stressful (because you're getting
bashed around by waves) than landing on a nice smooth runway? I suspect it
would be even worse if you dug in a wing float or hit a wave with a wing
float "at speed".

KB