What's Wrong With All Those Planes?
By icyorchid
@icyorchid (2564)
United States
April 15, 2008 9:12pm CST
And why didn't anyone notice at some point in the past 28 years?
American Airlines cancelled more than 3,000 flights in the past week as it grounded 300 Boeing passenger jets in order to comply with stepped-up enforcement of safety inspections. The affected airplanes, from Boeing's MD-80 series, each hold up to 172 passengers and are often described as the "workhorse" of American's fleet, accounting for nearly half of its planes. So, what was the problem?
Maybe nothing. The current inspections are the result of a rigorous safety review ordered by the Federal Aviation Administration after it discovered that Southwest Airlines had failed to inspect 46 of its Boeing 737s for cracks in the fuselage material. This entailed an audit of airlines' compliance with government safety guidelines, known as "airworthiness directives."
For More Story: http://www.slate.com/id/2188877/?GT1=38001
3 people like this
2 responses
@wickedangel (1636)
• Dominican Republic
16 Apr 08
Icy this is horrendous news. How come they have to do so many all at once. They are supposed to check their planes regularly and ensure that there are enough out there so as not to affect their customers! This is scary. What if they had an accident. I thought the US was hot on things like this. It shows how negligent they have become. They wouldn't like there to be a crash - bad for business plus news like this would be hundreds of people sueing them!
Thanks for sharing this with us
@skysuccess (8857)
• Singapore
16 Apr 08
I think this is because of the rampant sloppy maintenance work and it is a good bold move of the authorities too. I do agree that this will lead to more airlines having their flights affected and grounded for this vital inspection.
Believe me this is for the good of all, imagine what will happen if the authorities had turned a deaf ear to these warnings. I just cannot think of the lives involved should the planes start crashing. On the hindsight, I am just wondering if the aviation authorities and the liberalism of the open market policy be blamed for this slip shod and more to come. Yes, I am pointing the finger at the emergence of low cost carriers that has made full service carriers suffer. There again, I believe that will be another area of discussion.
