Hey Guys,
Could this be related to the FAA "aging aircraft" program? I seem to recall some directives related to the Aloha 737 "convertible" incident that led to the FAA adopting some preventitive maint. driven ADs. The exploding fuel tank phenomena has always swirled around the TWA 800 crash back in 96'. Although, I don't think that there was really any conclusive evidence that substantiated the conclusion. To this day some insist that the explosion evidence represented an external explosion vs. an internal one. Hence driving all the government conspiracy whackos to this day.
Anyway, I think the SAAB is a solidly built airplane even if it only just meets FAR Part 25 performance criteria. It was never designed to be a "screamer", but an airplane that is economical to operate in a wide variety of environments. In this regard I'd say it has given excellent service to it's owners. However, the SAAB 340 is getting long in the tooth and time is drawing near that SAAB will no longer be able to profitibly provide support for the aircraft.
When you think about it, when the SAAB, DASH-8 100/200/300, ATR-42/72 and last but not least 1900 are gone. This will be the end of what some of guys affectionately refer to as "old-school" flying will become a thing of the past. I'm glad that I've had a chance to play a small part in the final chapter of hands-on flying in the United States.
Regards,
ex-Navy Rotorhead