American Airlines flight that rolled off the runway last month had faulty brakes, probe finds

Business Insider ^ | Mar 21, 2024, 6:45 PM CDT | Erin Snodgrass

[Red Badger]

An American Airlines flight that rolled off the runway last month when its braking system malfunctioned had undergone a brake-replacement job just four days prior, investigators said.

The February 10 American Airlines flight from Washington, DC, to Dallas experienced a "brake system anomaly" during landing, according to a preliminary National Transportation Safety Board report.

The Boeing 737-823 model's automatic brakes switched from off to on and then off again immediately after landing, flight crew told the investigators. The pilot had to manually brake the pedals and reverse the plane's thrusters to slow the engine, the NTSB report said.

The pilot warned air traffic controllers that they were experiencing a "total brake failure" during the landing, according to the report.

The jet eventually came to a stop in a paved overrun area. The flight's 104 passengers deplaned and reported no injuries. Federal safety officials swiftly prompted a probe into the incident.

Investigators later determined that the plane's flexible hydraulic lines within its braking system were not properly connected at the time of the incident. The jet had received replacement brakes during maintenance just four days prior to the incident, according to the report.

[Red Badger]

And the QC Inspector..................if they even have one..............

[Chickensoup]

More likely sabotage

[ArcadeQuarters]

Idiocracy was too accurate.

[WomBom]

Not a Boeing problem. It’s an incompetent mechanic, and his boss who signed the brakes off, who are responsible.

Good job by the flight crew.

[libertylover]

The jet had received replacement brakes during maintenance just four days prior to the incident,

Received from China? Or received but not put on?

[Red Badger]

Apparently a maintenance technician mixed up two hydraulic hoses...................

[Uncle Lonny]

DEI=DIE

[Uncle Lonny]

DEI=DIE

[joethedrummer]

What’s the schedule for brakes on planes - 30,000 miles?…
Sheesh…

I flew just yesterday. Our landing was like a tennis ball - bouncing several times before we got it right.. Our “pilot” looked like he was maybe 15…

[mabarker1]

The Boeing 737-823 model's automatic brakes switched from off to on and then off again immediately after landing, flight crew told the investigators. The pilot had to manually brake the pedalsand reverse the plane's thrusters to slow the engine,the NTSB report said.

Let Me Edit and Translate what they are trying to say in this POORLY WRITTEN and NOT EDITED BY ANYONE THAT KNOWS HOW TO BE CORRECT.

The Pilots had to actually depress the Rudder/Brake Pedal to make the brakes function. I'm going to speculate that the flexible brake hoses had been cross-connected and the Antilock System was freaking out because of that and was confusing the Antilock System as it was trying to pulse the brakes to obtain maximum stopping efficiency.

Thrust Reversers do not reverse the engine. They block the normal flow of thrust from the engines.

As far as jet engines are concerned there are three basic types of thrust reverser: Clamshell Door, Retractable Ejector, Cold Stream Cascade Reverser.

[Red Badger]

Reminds me of an old, very old, aviation joke whose punchline is:

“But look how wide that sucker is!”..................

[Ed Condon]

Reverse thrusters to slow the engine? Looks like the NTSB has a bunch of DEI hires also.

[Semper Vigilantis]

Great explanation - saved me a lot of typing.

[GOPJ]

DEI = Didn’t Earn It.

Ding, ding, dint - we have a thread winnah!

[6AL-4V]

The article says the brakes were replaced 4 days prior to the incident. How many landings did it make safely before the incident. If the brake hoses were installed incorrectly, they should have failed on taxi out immediately after the brake replacement. The 737 has two separate hydraulic sources and lines/hoses to each brake assembly. The brake hoses are connected to the brake assembly with quick detach fittings, 1/4 turn. The hydraulic systems operate at 3000 psi, so if the quick disconnect wasn’t seated, it would blow off immediately. It is impossible to switch the hoses to the brake assembly, they aren’t long enough to misconnect at the brake. How many brakes were replaced, all 4? So many questions about this article don’t make sense. Most of all, how many successful flights between brake work and failure?

[who knows what evil?]

To be transparent; I saw that on one of Ann Barnhardt’s ‘meme’ threads. :-)

[GOPJ]

DEI should be used on all college campuses to replace current professors EXCEPT in the Engineering departments. But as far as the rest of ‘em... let it rip.

Then the University system will die along with ‘the press’ and every other group that decided merit didn’t matter. (and here’s a flash for the fools - there are lots of blacks and minorities who are qualifed to do ANY job - it just takes longer to find them if you can’t push in a Marxist hater.)

[TangoLimaSierra]

...reverse the plane's thrusters to slow the engine...

Engines are actually spooled up when thrust reversal is engaged to slow the plane.

Maybe they should get someone who knows a bit more about aviation to write these articles.

[Red Badger]

Never expect journalism school graduates to know what they are writing about. Science, Math and History are electives................

[libertylover]

Apparently a maintenance technician mixed up two hydraulic hoses................

My 3rd Law of Troubleshooting comes to mind:

If a system has a function that was working properly before you worked on it but is now not working properly, there's a high probability that you caused the problem.