The FAA has finalized a rule that requires operators of 741 older generation US-registered Boeing 737s to install new warning systems within 3 years. "We are issuing this Airworthiness Directive to prevent failure of the flight crew to recognize and react properly to a valid cabin altitude warning and takeoff configuration warning horn, which could result in incapacitation of the flight crew due to hypoxia and consequent loss of control the aircraft", said the FAA in a statement. The A.D., which requires installation of new warning lights in the center cockpit console of some aircraft and activation of cabin altitude warning and takeoff configuration warning lights in other aircraft, is linked to the August 14, 2005 crash of a HELIOS AIRWAYS Flight 522, a Boeing 737-300 that went down near Grammatikos, Greece, killing all 121 passengers and crew onb oboard. In that crash, the aircraft climbed to its cruising level without automatic cabin pressurization selected and the Pilots misinterpreted the cabin pressure alert when it operated. The aircraft, pictured above left, flew its programmed route from Cyprus to Greece on flight director/autopilot with all passengers and crew on board unconscious from hypoxia, finally crashing in an uninhabited area near the approach to Athens Airport when the fuel was exhausted.
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