The revelation that Boeing [BA] failed to provide a 19-year ancient internal study about the puzzle of flammable vapors in its E-4B aircraft.

The revelation that Boeing [BA] failed to provide a 19-year ancient internal study about the puzzle of flammable vapors in its E-4B aircraft, the military version of its TWA Flight 800 B747 whose firing tank exploded in 1996, has readyed sharp criticism. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued a statement Oct 29 expressing its "displeasure to Boeing about their failure to inform us about the research and the 3-year time span it took for us to receive it." Boeing officials questioned the relevance of the report, which dealt with a military aircraft, and insisted the oversight was inadvertent. The contretemp triggered a Nov. 3 editorial according to David Ignatius in the Washington situation newspaper, in which he asked, "How could a firm that has befriended over the years because of its reputation for safety have overtoped a report that pointed to a potentially deadly flaw?"

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