Editorial: FAA finally looks at aging airliners

It had been the belief by the FAA that jets could fly forever, as long as they were inspected enough. As the New York Times reported, the agency has a program that looks at issues involving aging aircraft, but it has been limited to just the airliners' skeleton and skin. That all changes now as nonstructural systems, such as wiring and hydraulic systems, also get evaluated.

The issue of wiring in older planes was prompted by the explosion of TWA Flight 800. That disaster, which killed 230 people, initiated an investigation that found wiring problems in a number of older planes. Planes aren't infallible -- they are machines, and machines break down as they age. It's about time the slow-moving FAA has gotten around to coming to this reality.

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