Emergency landing after row of seats comes loose

Glass Houses: People who live is a glass house should be careful about throwing stones about maintenance practices. A few minutes research of insourced airline maintenance is a sober reminder of how everyone - regardless of union loyalty can make mistakes

American Airlines flight 191, a DC-10, crashed moments after takeoff from O’Hare Int Airport in Chicago. Moments earlier, while speeding down the runway, engine number 1 and pylon structure separated from the wing, flipped over the top and fell to the runway. The airplane took off but shortly after take off, the aircraft rolled left and the nose pitched down before crashing in a nearby field. The root cause of the accident was maintenance-induced damage leading to the separation of the no.1 engine and pylon assembly procedures which led to failure of the pylon structure. The mounting for the pylon had been damaged during routine maintenance performed 8 week previous. American Airlines, without the approval of the aircraft manufacturer McDonnell Douglas remove the engine-pylon as one unit during an engine change using a forklift. The airline maintenance team modified the recommended engine and pylon replacement procedure to save man hours and get the job done quicker. The pylon, the rigging holding the engine onto the wing, had been damaged during the makeshift maintenance procedure.


Alaska Airlines Flight 261 plunged into the pacific ocean during a routine flight from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to Seattle-Tacoma airport. The cause of the accident was the loss of the airplane pitch control caused by thread failure on the jackscrew assembly controlling the horizontal stabilizer trim. The failure of these acme nut threads was the result of insufficient lubrication of the jackscrew assembly by Alaska Airlines during preventive maintenance schedules, despite airline paperwork indicating it had been. This was the result of Alaska’s extended lubrication and maintenance inspection intervals.

AA Flight 1400 - WASHINGTON (AP) — American Airlines failed to catch mistakes by maintenance workers who didn't follow procedure before a September 2007 flight, causing the airplane's left engine to catch on fire during a departure climb from Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, safety investigators concluded on Tuesday

$39.3 million against American for allegedly failing to fix wiring work on its Boeing 757 aircraft in 2009. Federal specifications are designed to prevent electrical arcing and fires. The FAA said that before the jets were inspected and repaired up to standard, American used 113 of them to make 1,480 flights carrying passengers.

The FAA is seeking $28.8 million for American’s alleged failure to follow the manufacturer’s recommended procedure for overhauling the main landing gear on about 30 Boeing 777 jets. FAA officials in Texas suggested a $1.9 million fine, but officials in Washington increased the amount.

The FAA proposes a $27.6 million fine over work on the engines of Boeing 767 jets. American sought and received permission from Boeing for an alternative fix, but before getting that approval it used four planes on 2,118 flights in 2008, according to court documents.
 
What's the FAA going to catch now with very little oversight?

I guess in your world maintenance will be better because the FAA won't be finding and fining?

One would be a fool to state that in-house maintenance is flawless and I challenge you to show anyone that has stated that. The point has been quality, overall cost reduction and FAA oversight. With a sprinkling of protecting USA jobs on top.
 
Glass Houses: People who live is a glass house should be careful about throwing stones about maintenance practices. A few minutes research of insourced airline maintenance is a sober reminder of how everyone - regardless of union loyalty can make mistakes

American Airlines flight 191, a DC-10, crashed moments after takeoff from O’Hare Int Airport in Chicago. Moments earlier, while speeding down the runway, engine number 1 and pylon structure separated from the wing, flipped over the top and fell to the runway. The airplane took off but shortly after take off, the aircraft rolled left and the nose pitched down before crashing in a nearby field. The root cause of the accident was maintenance-induced damage leading to the separation of the no.1 engine and pylon assembly procedures which led to failure of the pylon structure. The mounting for the pylon had been damaged during routine maintenance performed 8 week previous. American Airlines, without the approval of the aircraft manufacturer McDonnell Douglas remove the engine-pylon as one unit during an engine change using a forklift. The airline maintenance team modified the recommended engine and pylon replacement procedure to save man hours and get the job done quicker. The pylon, the rigging holding the engine onto the wing, had been damaged during the makeshift maintenance procedure.


Alaska Airlines Flight 261 plunged into the pacific ocean during a routine flight from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to Seattle-Tacoma airport. The cause of the accident was the loss of the airplane pitch control caused by thread failure on the jackscrew assembly controlling the horizontal stabilizer trim. The failure of these acme nut threads was the result of insufficient lubrication of the jackscrew assembly by Alaska Airlines during preventive maintenance schedules, despite airline paperwork indicating it had been. This was the result of Alaska’s extended lubrication and maintenance inspection intervals.

AA Flight 1400 - WASHINGTON (AP) — American Airlines failed to catch mistakes by maintenance workers who didn't follow procedure before a September 2007 flight, causing the airplane's left engine to catch on fire during a departure climb from Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, safety investigators concluded on Tuesday

$39.3 million against American for allegedly failing to fix wiring work on its Boeing 757 aircraft in 2009. Federal specifications are designed to prevent electrical arcing and fires. The FAA said that before the jets were inspected and repaired up to standard, American used 113 of them to make 1,480 flights carrying passengers.

The FAA is seeking $28.8 million for American’s alleged failure to follow the manufacturer’s recommended procedure for overhauling the main landing gear on about 30 Boeing 777 jets. FAA officials in Texas suggested a $1.9 million fine, but officials in Washington increased the amount.

The FAA proposes a $27.6 million fine over work on the engines of Boeing 767 jets. American sought and received permission from Boeing for an alternative fix, but before getting that approval it used four planes on 2,118 flights in 2008, according to court documents.

IF I was one of the members you are referring to about stone throwing, my intention wasn't to hit you in the head.. Since I've got got your attention most of the disasters/incidents you posted were not the cause of technicians but an attempt by companies to save money!

http://www.rvs.uni-bielefeld.de/publications/Incidents/DOCS/ComAndRep/OHare/NTSB/COPY/ohare-full.html

However, both American Airlines and Continental Airlines employed a procedure which damaged a critical structural member of the aircraft. The procedure, developed by American Airlines and issued under ECO R-2693, was within American Airlines' authority, and approval or review was neither sought nor required from the manufacturer or the FAA.

Flight 261:
This answer is right in your post!

This was the result of Alaska’s extended lubrication and maintenance inspection intervals.

AA 1400 had some fault with following procedures!
http://www.ntsb.gov/doclib/reports/2009/AAR0903.pdf

3.2 Probable Cause
The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was American Airlines’ maintenance personnel’s use of an inappropriate manual engine-start procedure, which led to the uncommanded opening of the left engine air turbine starter valve, and a subsequent left engine fire, which was prolonged by the flight crew’s interruption of an emergency checklist to perform nonessential tasks. Contributing to the accident were deficiencies in American Airlines’ Continuing Analysis and Surveillance System program.

The remainder are still pending I believe:

$39.3 million against American for allegedly failing to fix wiring work on its Boeing 757 aircraft in 2009. Federal specifications are designed to prevent electrical arcing and fires. The FAA said that before the jets were inspected and repaired up to standard, American used 113 of them to make 1,480 flights carrying passengers.


The FAA is seeking $28.8 million for American’s alleged failure to follow the manufacturer’s recommended procedure for overhauling the main landing gear on about 30 Boeing 777 jets. FAA officials in Texas suggested a $1.9 million fine, but officials in Washington increased the amount.


The FAA proposes a $27.6 million fine over work on the engines of Boeing 767 jets. American sought and received permission from Boeing for an alternative fix, but before getting that approval it used four planes on 2,118 flights in 2008, according to court documents.

Yes mistakes will be made but the fact is TIMCO has only been working on our jets for a short period and have caused problems and my opinion is that outsourcing is not as economical as AA would like to believe.

As far as throwing stones, How about an airline executive who makes 500k+ with stock options worth millions, a very lucrative pension and the best health care money can buy saying his labor costs are the problem with the company he is in control of..

Now that is worthy of your idiom!!
 
Looks like the loose seat " diease" is spreading. Aircraft 479 (md-80) was found with several rows of loose seats yesterday. It has to be the pilot's fault!
 
I can see it now. All f/as will be responsible for testing every row of seats when we board the a/c. That way, management will still have someone to blame (other than themselves) if those selfish pilots refuse to accept responsibility. :blush:
 
that's a whole lotta seat rows coming loose! still standby my original post. inside folks. my opinion stands.
 
That aircraft had seat rows that just needed a small adjustment to prevent rocking.Which is allowed per MM. I can walk on any aircraft and find a rocking seat row.
 
that's a whole lotta seat rows coming loose! still standby my original post. inside folks. my opinion stands.
the truth will one day come out.....and, I sure hope it isn't an inside job. There's a lot of good people working at AA, but every airline has bad apples. It's just way too fishy how it all started with the 757, then we hear about the 767, and now an MD-80. The columbo in me believes something stinks at AA. First, the BK....then the POS T/A shoved down the AMT's throats, and then mysteriously rows of seats come loose on numerous a/c, and on multiple fleets. are you kidding me........
 
the problem that may be faced now is trouble making copy cat mechanics at any facility. in house or not. or that is probably what has already happened. we aren't talking loose in the track seats are we? i thought it was falling out of the tracks into the lap of those in the row behind.
 
That aircraft had seat rows that just needed a small adjustment to prevent rocking.Which is allowed per MM. I can walk on any aircraft and find a rocking seat row.

Really? You may be right, but in decades of flying AA, I cannot recall ever noticing that my row of seats was loose, nor have I ever seen other passengers complain (and you'd think they'd notice if they sat down and their row of seats was loose). I've seen maintenance come on board for various things, but never to tighten up a row of loose seats. Perhaps maintenance gets to that loose row prior to boarding, every time. If it's really as common as you say, you'd think there would be more complaints and that the media would have been all over it during the last few decades.
 
This is an easy problem to fix. Add a ck on the overnight work cards to ck the seat locking mechanisms and have the flight crew check the seats before departure on the first flight of the day. If problems are found you could at least have an idea of where tampering is being done if that is the case.

This worked great at eliminating cockpit porn and cargo compartment graffitti in the early 90s. Makes me wonder if the company wants this to stop.
 

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