Two former supervisors at Textron Aviation said there were warning signs before an autoclave exploded in December.   Fifteen employees were injured in the blast, suffering everything from broken bones to puncture wounds from shrapnel.

Autoclave number 8 exploded.  An autoclave is a massive piece of equipment pressurized with nitrogen gas.  It's basically a large oven used to cure airplane parts.  The former supervisors, who didn't want to be identified, said Autoclave 8 hasn't been safe for years, even rupturing several years ago.  "The cracks were there, and they came to weld the cracks away, the way I understood it.  And they put up a metal plate about that big and welded to it...we just kept heating it up, and freezing it, heating it up and we've been doing that for thirty years.  I imagine it made that metal brittle."

According to the Kansas Fire Marshal's office, Autoclave number 8 doesn't fall under any state safety requirements, including the Kansas Boiler Safety Act, because it's too old.  That means no inspections, no oversight and no records from any state agency.   The Fire Marshal's office said it's Textron's responsibility to check equipment for safety, saying company facility maintenance staff or possibly their insurance company should be inspecting the autoclave.

The manufacturer of the $10 million autoclave is Thermal Equipment Corporation (TEC).  It installed the autoclave in 1985.  In a statement, CEO Nancy Huffman said TEC has had little involvement with this system since it was installed, and they were not involved or consulted prior to any modifications.  She added after-market modifications/parts may appear to be more economical...but there is no question that this comes with significant additional risk.

The supervisors said that's exactly what happened over the years.  It's a risk they say that's put people they love in danger.  "We have family out there, so those people were like our family, you get close to them, you get attached to them and it's just like your home, that was our home away from home."

We've contacted Textron several times for comment.  No one has returned our e-mails or calls regarding Autoclave number 8.  The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the explosion. 

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