Aviation News

American Airlines may face the largest penalties ever pursued by the US Federal Aviation Administration for safety violations, according to a bankruptcy court filing.

The agency’s cases, several of which have never been disclosed, may lead to as much as $US162.4 million in fines against American and affiliated companies, according to documents filed by the agency with the US Bankruptcy Court overseeing AMR’s reorganization.

“The documents detail both proposed and potential civil penalties in connection with ongoing enforcement cases involving both American Airlines and American Eagle,” the agency said in a statement. “Because these cases remain open, the FAA cannot discuss the details of the individual investigations.”

The agency said it had identified 36 separate instances in which Fort Worth, Texas-based American violated safety rules, including failure to perform repairs and mechanics mistakenly putting jets back into service with inoperable equipment. Sixteen of those hadn’t previously been made public.

The AMR claims register shows the FAA filed four secured claims totaling $US162.4 million July 12 against the airline company. The agency filed the claims to ensure that the government was paid as a creditor in AMR’s restructuring, it said in an e-mailed statement. As a secured creditor, the FAA would be paid ahead of many holders of priority, administrative and unsecured claims, under bankruptcy law.

Systemic failure

The largest claim was for $US39.3 million in recommended fines that resulted from what the FAA called a systemic failure to repair Boeing 757s in 2009, according to the filings.

FAA inspectors found that only three out of 124 of American’s 757s had had proper repairs to wiring near the plane’s two engines. The single-aisle planes made 1480 passenger flights without the repairs, according to the filings.

In another case, American was told by Boeing in 2008 that it had improperly repaired engines on wide-body 767s. The airline made 2118 flights on the planes, according to the FAA. The agency intends to seek $US27.6 million for these violations.

American is aware of the FAA’s potential claims, Michael Trevino, a spokesman for AMR, said in an e-mailed statement.

“The claims process is a routine part of any Chapter 11 filing,” Trevino said. “It is not an admission that money is owed, nor is it an admission that the amount cited is correct.”

Previous record

The FAA’s claims include $US24.2 million sought against American in 2010 for maintenance lapses that grounded its fleet of Boeing MD-80s in 2008. That’s the largest fine the agency has proposed to date.

The case hasn’t been settled, and carriers typically negotiate lower payments with the FAA.

American had to cancel more than 3300 flights over five days in April 2008, stranding 360,000 passengers while the conducted wiring inspections and made repairs on MD-80 aircraft that made up almost half its fleet.

The carrier said it had to park the planes after FAA spot checks found that clamps used to secure wiring bundles in the jets’ wheel wells didn’t comply with an agency order.

American executives said at the time they believed the carrier had met the FAA’s safety directive when it grounded the MD-80s. Those planes weren’t reinspected by the FAA before they returned to service.

Since then, the airline has made improvements in its maintenance procedures and worked with the agency to improve relations, Trevino said.

Claims against American totaled $US156.5 million, according to the AMR register. Regional unit American Eagle faces a $US5.3 million claim while the FAA is seeking $US629,500 from AMR’s Executive Airlines Inc. and $US17,875 from Eagle Aviation Services.

Bloomberg

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-incidents/american-airlines-facing-record-fines-over-safety-violations-20120808-23tu6.html#ixzz22vPNIwHc

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The note left on the damaged wing of an Alaska Airlines plane

A PASSENGER on an Alaska Airlines flight bound to Seattle looked out the window and saw what appeared to be a damaged area on the wing with a handwritten note saying, “we know about this”.

The incident on July 28 drew comments on Twitter and other social media websites, but the Seattle-based airline says there was nothing to worry about.

Spokeswoman Bobbie Egan said Tuesday that it was an approved trim repair to the corner flap on the right wing. A maintenance technician wrote to let the flight crew know.

Egan says, “The message was the result of someone’s good intentions” but the wing note “was not appropriate and did not follow company procedures”.

The message was immediately removed, and Alaska apologises for any alarm it may have caused.

QUESTION: What do you think? Was the technician's note acceptable?

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The female captain of a Qantas plane was ordered from the controls of a passenger jet last week, just minutes before it was due to take off, after cabin crew suspected she had been drinking alcohol before the flight.

The pilot was suspended and Qantas has since launched an investigation into the incident after the senior pilot recorded a positive reading for alcohol.

The captain has been withheld from operational duties on full pay, but the airline will not comment on what reading she gave or how recently before the flight she had been drinking.

The incident occurred last Monday as the Qantas aircraft was about to depart Sydney for Brisbane. 

Flight attendants on the Boeing 767-300 aircraft, which can carry 254 passengers, informed the airline’s flight operations managers that they suspected the captain of the plane had been drinking.

The aircraft had already been pulled back from the domestic terminal and was taxiing towards a runway for take-off when Qantas management made the decision to stand down the captain from command of the plane.

The 767 returned to the domestic terminal where the captain was taken off the plane and a replacement pilot was found to fly to Brisbane.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2184109/Female-airline-pilot-pulled-flight-just-minutes-cabin-crew-suspect-drinking.html#ixzz22pTbxGNa

QUESTION: If you were the captain in this incident and you tested negative for drinking, how would you feel towards the cabin crew?

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POLICE and Air Canada are investigating after a passenger on a domestic flight found a needle in a catered sandwich, the airline said.

“A passenger indicated that he found what appeared to be a sewing needle in a sandwich prepared in advance for the flight,” airline spokesman John Reber told AFP.

The July 30 flight from Victoria, British Columbia was headed to Toronto.

It follows a similar incident a few weeks ago when half a dozen needles ended up in turkey sandwiches on four Delta Air Lines flights from Amsterdam to the United States.

Both Dutch police and the American FBI launched probes after six needles were discovered in six different sandwiches on four separate US-bound flights departing from Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport.

Delta Air Lines and the sandwich maker at Schiphol airport, Gate Gourmet, said they were working with the authorities to investigate the scandal, which caused no serious injuries but sparked alarm amongst airline travellers.

Mr Reber said Air Canada was treating the latest incident “very seriously” and was cooperating with a police investigation.

“As soon as we were informed, we immediately contacted the caterers that supply our flights and a full investigation is under way. We’re also working closely with our caterers to ensure that heightened security has been put in place,” he said.

QUESTION: What do you think caused the needles to get into the sandwiches?

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