Posted on 09/13/2015 6:17:44 PM PDT by markomalley
An American Airlines plane that was not cleared to undertake long flights over water was flown from Los Angeles to Hawaii by mistake, violating US Federal Aviation Association regulations.
The incident took place last month, when an A321 plane was accidentally flown to Honolulu, despite not being certified to take extended flights over sea.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Oh, well. Better than getting locked out of the bathroom.
That’s why I always ask for two spoons when I fly over water.
You never know when they got the wrong airplane and you might have to row.
Oops. What they are talking about is an ETOPS certification, required for extended overwater operations. Not all aircraft within a model are ETOPS certified. It can be for a number of different equipment reasons. This is a big deal because it took a lot of people all screwing up in their jobs for this to happen.
Engines Turn Or Passengers Swim!
Don’t most ETOPS certified aircraft have the letters “ETOPS” painted in really large letters on several places on the aircraft?
“...This is a big deal because it took a lot of people all screwing up in their jobs for this to happen...”
Exactly. There could have been no “mistake” here. As you say, FAR too many people know which planes are certified, especially the pilots, amongst many others. They should be fined heavily for that.
Are you kidding me? Tip of the iceberg. Probably happens a hundred times a year and nobody says a word. It’s just like they tell you—if you actually knew what went on in the kitchen you would never eat at a restaurant again. My stepson is an airframe/powerplant mechanic for a major worldwide package delivery service. What he tells me about corners they cut to make necessary repairs in turnaround time scares me to death.
Well, what else could they do at that point?
I called an aviation supply business once to buy some 100 mph tape. They asked how wide I wanted it. Two inches was fine with me. Apparently someone one wanted tape one foot wide because they had holed a plane with a fork lift.
Yes. Exactly.
Here's the thing: if they were halfway to Hawaii, and turned around, they would have traveled something like 1200 miles over ocean that they were not certified to cross, but they would have reached the mainland.
Instead, they continued on to Hawaii, crossing something like 1200 miles over ocean that they were not certified to cross. And then they made a return trip to California, crossing 2400 miles over ocean that they were not certified to cross.
1200 miles?
or 3600 miles?
Big difference.
If it was not certified to fly over water by the gubment how in hell did it make it to Hiwai? That’s impossible without a gubment stamp!
Not most, ALL are required to have ETOPS. The crew is the last to insure that all ETOPS requirements have been met.
There is a requirement to transmit to Dispatch, after airborne, that operationally the aircraft is good to continue.
This is spelled out in the Operations Specifications cleared by the FAA. There will be a big fine to go along with the many red faces.
Wrong. It was ferried back.
This type was just recently certified, and since all AA A321s are overwater, and all are identical except paperwork, it is possible it was a mistake. A bad one, but not hard to see it happen.
2400 of the 3600 miles would have been flown just with minimal crew - no passengers. So, the choice is... return passengers 1200 miles to their starting point, or 1200 miles to their destination.
That is ETOPS displayed on the aircraft. It is usually on the nose gear faring, as pictured, and also near the “N number (US registered).
Not much would get me on a plane these days………if I can’t drive there, I don’t go there……...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.