Reply #57: Since you brought up

[DulceDecorum]

the subject of airworthiness certificates,
perhaps you would care to answer ONE question.

A while ago a Swissair plane crashed.
The subsequent investigation indicated that the crash had something to do with the In-Flight Entertainment system and also with the fact that when things started to go wrong, the pilot had no way to turn the darn thing off.
So the FAA had a look-see and issued some airworthiness directives aimed as reducing the possibility of a repeat performance.

AirSafetyWeek, March 26, 2001
"Hazards Penetrated Supplemental Certification Process."
Changes Ordered for In-flight Entertainment Systems
In-flight entertainment systems that cannot be turned off unless pilots pull circuit breakers must be modified, disconnected or removed outright. Operators of 74 U.S.-registered aircraft have 18 months to accomplish the work, according to a battery of airworthiness directives (ADs) issued March 2 by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The directives stem from a wider investigative net cast by the FAA after the fiasco over the IFE installed in Swissair MD-11 and B747 aircraft. When one of the MD-11s crashed at Halifax, Canada, in 1998, and burned Kapton wires were recovered from the IFE, Swissair officials immediately ordered the same IFE installations disconnected on remaining aircraft. Circuit breakers were pulled and power cables literally were cut and capped, pursuant to complete removal at a more deliberate pace.
The FAA had approved the system's installation under a Special Type Certificate (STC).
<snip>
March 2001 FAA orders operators to modify, deactivate or remove various IFE systems on some 180 other aircraft (29 months after Swissair disconnected the improperly installed IFE on its aircraft).
Sources: FAA, TSB, BAZL, Swissair

Modify, Deactivate, Remove
Summary of Mandated Actions
* B737-300 and B737-700. Modify IFE. FAA rationale: "The IFE system...is connected to an electrical bus that cannot be deactivated without also cutting power to airplane systems necessary for safe flight.... Also, there is no means available the flight or cabin crew to remove power from flight manual (AFM) and cabin crew the IFE system without pulling circuit breakers.... The airplane manual do not provide clear instructions on how to remove power from the IFE.... This condition, if not corrected, could result in...inability to control smoke or fumes in the airplane..." Mandated modifications include installing a master switch to cut IFE power and explaining its functioning in the AFM.

* B757-200. Deactivate air-to-ground telephone system. Rationale: Similar to B737 above - no
means to cut power with pulling CBs. Emergency procedures not revised to advise crew.

Let us take another look at that last paragraph:
B757-200.
DEACTIVATE AIR-TO-GROUND TELEPHONE SYSTEM.
Rationale: Similar to B737 above - no means to cut power with pulling CBs.
Emergency procedures not revised to advise crew.

Does this mean that
the FAA is telling ALL the operators of ALL Boeing 757s to
DEACTIVATE the AIR-TO-GROUND TELEPHONE SYSTEM?

Oh my!
Is this the Airworthiness Directive they are referring to?

AD/B757/69 Air-to-Ground Telephone System
FAA STC SA1727GL 9/2001
Applicability: Model 757-200 series airplanes modified by United States Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) SA1727GL.
Requirement:
1. Deactivate the In-Flight Phone Corporation air-to-ground telephone system approved by STC SA1727GL in accordance with the following procedures: a. Remove the circuit breakers listed in the following table: ............
2. Air-to-Ground telephone systems may not be installed on any aeroplane in accordance with STC SA1727GL.
Note: FAA AD 2001-14-01 Amdt 39-12311 refers.
Compliance:
For Requirement 1 - Within 18 months after the effective date of this Directive.
For Requirement 2 - As of the effective date of this Directive. This Airworthiness Directive becomes effective on 6 September 2001. Background: This Directive requires the deactivation of the Air-to-Ground telephone systems installed by STC SA1727GL. This action is required to ensure that, when necessary, the flight crew is able to remove electrical power from the telephone system. Inability to remove power from the telephone system during a non-normal or emergency situation could result in inability to control smoke or fumes in the airplane flight deck or cabin.

Well, according to that,
on September 6, 2001,
the FAA instructed that ALL Boeing 757s be deprived of Air-to-Ground telephone systems.
Now, just suppose that United Airlines and American Airlines had paid the least bit of attention to the FAA.
We know for a fact that they were not at all interested in complying with FAA AIRWORTHINESS DIRECTIVES. And we also know for a fact that the FAA is not interested in holding them accountable.

Just suppose that those two carriers were at all interested in complying with FAA AIRWORTHINESS DIRECTIVES.
http://www.airweb.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guidance_Library/rgFAR.nsf/CurrentFARPart!OpenView&Start=1&Count=200&Expand=14#14

American Airlines Flight 77, was a Boeing 757-223 (N644AA).
United Airlines Flight 93, was a Boeing 757-222 (N591UA).
These two planes were not supposed to have a functioning air-to-ground telephone system.

Good thing that neither American Airlines, nor United Airlines, nor even the FAA give a damn about the airworthiness of the planes flying over your head, because if they did, then we would NOT have those calls from Barbara Olson, Mark Bingham, Todd Beamer, Jeremy Glick and all the people who managed to use the recently-outlawed Boeing 757 air-to-ground telephone system.

So what if the plane could have caught on fire with that system in heavy use?
The FAA doesn't appear to care, so why should anyone else?
Heck, the FAA didn't even bother to revise the emergency procedures to advise the crew that the air-to-ground telephone system was no longer functioning.
(Think of the impact the lack of this information would have had on the stewardesses of Flight 11.)

So what if the ability to control smoke or fumes in the flight deck of the 757 in an emergency situation was impaired?
The important thing is that the passengers on board Flight 93 and Barbara Olson aboard Flight 77 managed to complete air-to-ground calls using a telephone system that was hazardous to the integrity of the aircraft they were inside.

They may all be dead, but they really lucked out.
And so did the planes.
Especially the ones that are still registered.

So my question to you,
mn9driver,
is this:
Should the owners/operators of N644AA and N591UA
have swiftly complied with AD/B757/69 ?

(See,
I can too tell the difference
between an N-number and an airworthiness directive.
Anything else you care to bring up?)