Mike, in response to your question, no, I am no longer practicing law. At the
end of 2020 I retired from my law firm, Holland & Knight. Fifty-two years of
practicing aviation law, product-liability law, and non-profit law were
probably enough. (I never had an uninteresting day, but there were some days I
would certainly like to forget.) As best I could tell, I still had my wits
about me, but it was a propitious time to retire even though the pandemic
precluded any parades, farewell tours, or festive get-togethers to mark the
event.
I didn’t plan to stay at my firm that long; it just happened naturally
(“organically” is the word people use these days). The retirement also
happened naturally and seemed less like a watershed because in 2020 I was, like
everyone else, already chronologically disoriented. Having been marooned in
our home for so long, I found that retirement did not bring much of a lifestyle
change.
In addition, I retired from decades-long positions as General Counsel (on a pro
bono basis) of The Wings Club (where my law-partner Rich Furey replaced me) and
the New York City Ballet (where I continue to be actively involved on the Board
as a Director Emeritus).
Despite retirement, I still don’t have enough time to keep up with, much less
respond to, the Mifnet emails, so I submit comments only occasionally.
Bob
Randal Craft
Email: randalrobertcraft@gmailcom
Mobile: 646-226-2299 (USA)
From: Mike Borfitz via Mifnet <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, January 17, 2026 4:03 PM
To: Mike Borfitz via Mifnet <[email protected]>
Cc: Mike Borfitz <[email protected]>
Subject: [Mifnet đź›° 75154] Re: AA Flight 191 DC-10 Crash at ORD
My faith is restored:
"...cracks in the engine pylon aft bulkhead (not a bearing)..." I thought the
bearing comment was a little odd.
Still, Boeing is in trouble again. The public probably won't get spooled up,
however. No less a tragedy but freighter accidents tend to fade.
My bet is that it was an error rather than a management push to cut corners.
Small fleet with many many cycles & hours; "Shouldn't be a problem."
Are you still practicing? My guess is no, ORD was a long time ago.
Mike Borfitz
Cell 206-714-8797
Kilroy Aviation LLC
<http://www.faaoda.com/> WWW.FAAODA.COM
Kilroy is available for aviation regulatory and safety issues
- Type & Production Certification, Continued Operational Safety
- International validation & safety matters
- Program & system management
- FAA STC ODA
On Sat, Jan 17, 2026, 12:16 PM Randal Craft via Mifnet <[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]> > wrote:
I was lead counsel to American Airlines in the NTSB investigation of the 25 May
1979 DC-10 crash of Flight 191 at O’Hare and in the FAA investigation and
subsequent grounding of all DC-10 aircraft. In light of the latest articles
and emails referring to that crash, I probably should repeat some points I’ve
made previously.
The MDC manuals were not dispositive on the use of a fork-lift
engine-replacement procedure, and there was some controversy about what had
been orally said (and meant) by MDC personnel to AA about the proposed
fork-lift procedure that was blamed for the cracks in the engine pylon aft
bulkhead (not a bearing) that led to the loss of the engine and, in turn, the
airplane. AA was under the impression that MDC thought the procedure was
acceptable, in part because, as reflected in the written record described in
the NTSB report, MDC was aware of AA's proposed fork-lift procedure and,
without objection, supplied requested C.G. data so AA could use this procedure.
MDC apparently also did not object to Continental's use of this procedure.
I tried three cases (one against lawyer/aviator F. Lee Bailey) in which some
details of the flight were at issue. The pilots followed the manual’s
engine-out procedure; they had no way of knowing that not only had they lost
power on the left engine but that they had also lost the nacelle, the pylon,
and part of the leading edge of the wing. All this damaged some hydraulic
lines and caused a loss of hydraulic pressure and retraction of outboard
leading-edge slats on the left wing, which increased the left wing’s stall
speed to a speed above the speed called for in the engine-out procedure.
Seconds after lift-off, the left wing started entering into a stall, causing
the airplane to begin rolling to the left. Impact with the ground occurred
eleven seconds or so after that roll began.
As for the DC-10 grounding, it should be noted that the grounding was based on
the FAA’s mistaken conclusion that the cracks in the pylon aft bulkhead that
were discovered in a series of post-accident AD-directed fleet inspections had
actually grown during the inspection period. Before the grounding, I spoke by
telephone and met in person with the AA inspection team that found the pylon
bulkhead cracks, and their view was that the bulkhead cracks had not developed
or grown during the series of post-accident inspections of the fleet. They
pointed out that the cracks in question had not been found in the earlier
inspections because the earlier ADs had not called for inspections in the area
where these cracks were later found. Indeed, a chief reason why there was a
series of ADs was that the areas to be inspected kept being clarified and
expanded. It was a later AD in the series that called for inspections of the
location where the cracks in question were found. My understanding was that
this information was passed on to the FAA but was discounted. The grounding
followed.
A pre-grounding internal FAA inspection report indicated that the local (SFO)
FAA inspectors agreed with AA that the cracks in question were pre-existing and
were in a location that was not to be inspected in the original rounds of
post-accident inspections (and this was confirmed in subsequent testimony of
FAA personnel). I understand that AA's head of maintenance also argued to
Craig Beard of the FAA that the cracks were pre-existing and not an appropriate
basis for a grounding. I believe there was even a much-later FAA report that
concluded that the FAA's instructions in the initial ADs were not adequate to
reveal the cracks found later in the pylon aft bulkhead. Accordingly, in my
view the grounding of the DC-10 was not justified.
Bob
Randal Craft
Email: randalrobertcraft@gmailcom
Mobile: 646-226-2299 (USA)
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