Emergency landing after row of seats comes loose

Super FLUF

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Jun 10, 2011
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Heard this plane was just serviced by OUTSOURCED maintenance (Co. In NC founded by former AA emp?). If so, Horton's restructuring plan is already paying off in spades!

Although...... I'm sure the REAL story is that the pilots calling in sick caused the row of seats to come loose.

***

ABC NEWS
American Airlines Seats Become Loose in Flight Before Emergency Landing
By JIM AVILA and MATT HOSFORD

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating how a row of seats in the coach cabin on a passenger jet became loose in flight.

The seats on American Airlines Flight 6885, a Boeing 757, became unbolted during a Saturday night flight from Boston to Miami. The flight was diverted and made an emergency landing at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport.

The passengers in those seats were moved to other seats on the plane. No one was injured and the aircraft landed safely at JFK. The passengers were delayed three hours before being put on another flight to Miami.

The FAA has stepped up scrutiny of American during its bankruptcy, as it has in the past for other carriers in similar situations. AMR Corp., American Airlines' parent company, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Nov. 29, 2011.

This is the latest in a string of recent problems for American Airlines. Maintenance and employee issues have led to significant delays and cancellations in recent weeks.

ABC News reported last month that the airline was forced to delay nearly 40 percent of its flights, with most forced to be late or even cancelled by an "unprecedented and very significant" increase in maintenance issues. The airline blamed the pilots, who it claimed were calling out sick 20 percent more than normal.

"The recent disruptions are primarily due to the significant increase in maintenance write-ups by our pilots, many right at the time of departure," the airline said in a statement last month.

The pilots union said there is no sanctioned work action underway and disagreed with American's accounting of sick leave and crew cancellations.

A fight last month between two flight attendants over a cellphone forced a plane to turn back to the gate at JFK and delayed passengers four hours while the airline found a new crew.

The trouble at the airline has prompted at least one airline industry expert to advise passengers to book away from the airline for the time being.

Wall Street Journal travel editor Scott McCartney warned passengers, "My advice is, until things get straightened out with the operations, if you have a choice, you ought to book another airline.

It's just not worth it."
 
The company should get a TRO to keep the pilots from writing up such "frivolous" items like loose rows of seats.
 
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Interesting, what about the 757 repitch that blocked emergency exit rows......
That outsourcing don't seem to be working to well so far. Wonder how well China does 777's ?
 
if you get a tro to get pilots to stop writing up frivious items then you know theyll come up with something else to write up such as a small oil leak or something n add it in there but how does a row of seats come loose on a 757 let alone any plane! i didnt even hear about the plane whereas 2 flight attendants got into a spat over a cell phone all this sounds like usairways 2x in ch11
 
Heard this plane was just serviced by OUTSOURCED maintenance (Co. In NC founded by former AA emp?). If so, Horton's restructuring plan is already paying off in spades!

Although...... I'm sure the REAL story is that the pilots calling in sick caused the row of seats to come loose.

***

ABC NEWS
American Airlines Seats Become Loose in Flight Before Emergency Landing
By JIM AVILA and MATT HOSFORD

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating how a row of seats in the coach cabin on a passenger jet became loose in flight.

The seats on American Airlines Flight 6885, a Boeing 757, became unbolted during a Saturday night flight from Boston to Miami. The flight was diverted and made an emergency landing at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport.

The passengers in those seats were moved to other seats on the plane. No one was injured and the aircraft landed safely at JFK. The passengers were delayed three hours before being put on another flight to Miami.

The FAA has stepped up scrutiny of American during its bankruptcy, as it has in the past for other carriers in similar situations. AMR Corp., American Airlines' parent company, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Nov. 29, 2011.

This is the latest in a string of recent problems for American Airlines. Maintenance and employee issues have led to significant delays and cancellations in recent weeks.

ABC News reported last month that the airline was forced to delay nearly 40 percent of its flights, with most forced to be late or even cancelled by an "unprecedented and very significant" increase in maintenance issues. The airline blamed the pilots, who it claimed were calling out sick 20 percent more than normal.

"The recent disruptions are primarily due to the significant increase in maintenance write-ups by our pilots, many right at the time of departure," the airline said in a statement last month.

The pilots union said there is no sanctioned work action underway and disagreed with American's accounting of sick leave and crew cancellations.

A fight last month between two flight attendants over a cellphone forced a plane to turn back to the gate at JFK and delayed passengers four hours while the airline found a new crew.

The trouble at the airline has prompted at least one airline industry expert to advise passengers to book away from the airline for the time being.

Wall Street Journal travel editor Scott McCartney warned passengers, "My advice is, until things get straightened out with the operations, if you have a choice, you ought to book another airline.

It's just not worth it."
20 Rows of seats were loose or out of the track
 
I can't imagine ANY licensed mechanic tampering with something this serious. Even in our worst days (financial) I trusted my mechanics to give me a safe, airworthy plane. The bigger they are, the harder they fall. So sad..
 
I can't imagine ANY licensed mechanic tampering with something this serious. Even in our worst days (financial) I trusted my mechanics to give me a safe, airworthy plane. The bigger they are, the harder they fall. So sad..

It could be something as simple as inexperience on the mechanic's part...in other words, he screwed up. 3rd party MRO's are full of inexperienced folks new to the industry (I was there once), and cabin jobs, which would include seat removal/installation, are usually assigned to the newer, less senior people. For the most part, you don't take a guy fresh out of A&P school and tell him to go rig an elevator. Who knows if this was the case with this airplane though. My point is, when a mechanical discrepancy is the result of a mechanic's action, it's not deliberate via tampering or sabotage.
 
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I can't imagine ANY licensed mechanic tampering with something this serious. Even in our worst days (financial) I trusted my mechanics to give me a safe, airworthy plane. The bigger they are, the harder they fall. So sad..

Are you suggesting sabotage?
 
You usually have a manager/qa manager sign off on the work package.ie is every block in the work pacage signed? Who signs us the contractors job. The real by back is when it enters service. Like when you air interrupt as seats come loose.
 
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Reactions: 1 person
Someone suggested in a round-about way that AA should have found the loose seats when the plane was accepted back from the contractor?