Posted on 04/11/2008 4:48:54 AM PDT by Gamecock
American airlines begged the feds Thursday to let it keep its fleet aloft, saying the fastenings that need to be checked pose no safety threat.
The answer was no.
The airline has grounded 2,500 flights since Tuesday, causing chaos for passengers nationwide, while it inspects latches and clamps on wiring covers as required by the Federal Aviation Administration.
The FAA yesterday ordered the 300 Boeing MD-80 jets to remain parked while mechanics made sure wire ties were exactly 1 inch apart and clamps faced the right way.
More than 900 flights were scrapped yesterday, and the airport havoc is expected to stretch into the weekend.
"What needed doing was a long, long, long way from causing any safety concern," an airline spokesman said yesterday.
"That's why we went to the FAA and said, 'Folks, can we get the planes in the air while we inspect them, and not cancel any flights?'
"They said no. There is no court of appeals, so we had to do what they said."
The fastenings are on a plastic tube fitted to stop wires over wheel wells from chafing and short-circuiting.
Earlier inspections, which grounded 450 flights two weeks ago, had confirmed no wires had chafed - but failed to determine whether the fastenings were properly fitted.
Most of the planes checked needed the fastenings re-spaced, said American Airlines chairman Gerard Arpey.
"It's my fault," he said. "I run the company, and if there's any blame to be had, I take full responsibility."
Since March 12, 3,000 flights have been grounded by carriers - including United, Delta and American - for problems with fire-suppression systems, malfunctioning cockpit instruments and wiring.
The feds started an audit of all domestic maintenance reports after fining Southwest Airlines $10.2 million last month for flying dozens of planes without proper fuselage inspections.
At a hearing in Congress last week, whistle-blowers said the FAA had turned a blind eye to safety after building too-cozy relationships with the airlines they're supposed to police.
In the New York area yesterday, 70 flights were canceled at LaGuardia Airport and 18 at Newark. Kennedy was crippled by knock-on delays.
"The resulting chaos may have been avoidable," said Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). "The FAA and the airlines need to come up with a plan so this rash of cancellations doesn't happen again."
At LaGuardia, American Airlines staff barred reporters from check-in desks as furious passengers fumed.
A group of refugees that arrived from Myanmar yesterday and were trying to get to Indianapolis sat bewildered, unable to speak English or understand what was happening.
New Yorker Brad Blair said, "I am furious." Blair, 31, of Gramercy Park, who was bound for Miami for his bachelor party, was trying to get on a 4 p.m. flight, five hours after his scheduled plane was canceled.
"It's my bachelor party, and they're holding us here at this damn airport," he said. "We have suffered for hours."
If they’d have followed the rules in the first place, they wouldn’t have an issue now.
It would seem that accountability is no longer a core conservative principle.
Well stated Doohickey.
After all, it isn't the FAA who does the work or is it the FAA who approves the work.
It's the FAA who has the authority to assign a trusted representative to do the work and to approve the work, however in doing so, the FAA has taken responsibility via their decision to trust the Representatives to do the work as they submitted it to the FAA as to how they are going to perform the work.
The FAA has the responsibility to verify via a paper trail as to how the work is going to be performed and signatures of approved field personnel stating that the work will be performed as documented, thus assuring responsibility is placed for work not being performed as approved.
It isn't their job to visually inspect the work although it is their option to do so.
I don't if some of you guys have noticed, but our government is being run by a bunch of insane Obsessive-Compulsives with a blank checkbook.
Yet you so casually are prepared to bankrupt one of our major airlines.
I saw that AA was purchasing tickets for some customers in some instances on their competitors' airlines. Of course, the news reports failed to mention that they were probably paying full, on-the-spot walkup rate - which price is insanely expensive...
Your conveyance is the first that I have experienced. /snicker
Really?
Please tell us about when an entire class of submarines was tied to the dock for a week—none on patrol—because one of ten thousand wire bundles was not tied at precise intervals.
This should be an interesting sea story.
We do, indeed and your conclusion is also correct. Thank you for a focused, civil and spirited discussion. I enjoyed the exchange.
Regards,
Dusty
I strongly disagree with that. The FAA hires qualified, experienced aircraft maintenance people as inspectors so that they can perform spot checks and inspect the inspectors.
Otherwise, all they need are high school graduates who can read.
The FAA inspectors don't have to inspect every aircraft, but they have to be able to observe and audit the airline maintenance workers to determine if they know what they are doing and whether they are qualified to perform the work.
Allow me to pose a question to you - would you want to fly an airline whose pilots were re-certified by an English major who followed a paper trail, or the airline whose pilots were re-certified by an FAA certified licensed pilot instructor who accompanied a randomly selected pilot on a "check ride"?
That isn't the background the FAA is interested in when it comes to hiring Inspectors.
Your promotion of creating an agitate mindset with a lack of background and knowledge isn't impressive by any means DustyMoment.
It is enjoyable however via it's entertainment value.
Perhaps you could tell me how the ties can be EXACTLY 1 inch apart? Is there an implied tolerance associated with such a measurement? From an engineering standpoint, it is not possible for anything to be EXACTLY 1 inch unless the thing itself is the standard for defining the inch.
You're right. And that's just the kind of thing that drives someone like me bat-shit crazy. I have three degrees - Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, and an MBA plus over 20 years professional experience. I know, I know there's no reason for BS like this other than as you say, proving a (useless) point. Argh.
Knowing the FAA, there is. Since I am not involved in this particular epsiode of silliness by the feds (I got out of the aircraft business years ago), my guess is that the tolerance will be +/- .125" and possibly as much as +/-.25" (although I doubt it!).
I will also speculate that they will have had to specify whether the spacing is based upon 1" centers or 1" between cable ties, thereby making the actual spacing >1" since the cable tie width must be included in the overall spacing specification.
And that was the point I was trying to make!! Since MortMan introduced to the fact that the FAA doesn’t perform the inspections themselves and their inspectors just want an audit trail to follow, I simply pursued the train of thought to its logical conclusion, knowing that it was incorrect. However, it was MortMan who suggested that they only follow the audit trail.
I will also speculate that they will have had to specify whether the spacing is based upon 1" centers or 1" between cable ties,This info should be CLEARLY noted on the engineering drawings or technical manuals or work instructions made from the engineering drawings ...
At some point, engineering would have determined loading, expected flexure and spelled out the required hardware needed to meet those parameters ... that part is not the FAA's job.
Could not have happened to a more deserving airline ;)
Could not have happened to a more deserving airline ;)That along with no-knock federal warrant service eh?
Thank you for your input. I spent 8 years in engineering and know how that works and understand the separation between enginerring and FAA.
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