Local Carriers Not Part Of Safety Checks

Airplane safety is in the headlines again as some carriers using Boeing 737's check the integrity of their aircraft's aluminum body.

Here in Casper, airport manager, Glen Januska, says the regular carriers in and out of Natrona County International Airport used other types of aircraft and so the safety checks called for by the FAA should not effect local air traffic.

"There's really no reason at this point to anticipate that it's going to go beyond those aircraft, unless the FAA makes the determination that there are other aircraft that need to be inspected."

He likens the problem to what Toyota experienced with its brakes in that that recall did not go out to all manufacturers. The 50 passenger regional jets that travel through Natrona County are a completely different manufacturer and a different type of machine.

"What I can tell everybody is that the aircraft really go through a high degree of inspection and high maintenance requirements. So we're just going to wait and see how the investigation and how the inspection process for the 737's play out."

Januska  says no regular carriers through Casper offer connections to Southwest Airlines and so at this point there's been no knock-on effect to schedules in Natrona County by flights cancelled elsewhere.