Chicago, October 17: AMR Corp’s American Airlines operated jets later found to have substandard repairs, and federal regulators are probing allegations that at least one plane was considered unsafe to fly at normal cruise altitude, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.
The newspaper, citing people familiar with the matter, said the latest moves by the Federal Aviation Administration indicate the agency is expanding its probe into suspected structural problems with rear bulkheads on some of American’s fleet of MD-80 jets, the newspaper said.
FAA inspectors are pursuing allegations by pilots that one of those MD-80s was believed to be in such poor condition that it was ferried without passengers from Dallas to the carrier’s Tulsa, Oklahoma maintenance base at unusually low altitudes to avoid the stress of pressurizing the fuselage during the trip, the newspaper said.
Preliminary FAA findings have identified as many as 16 American Airlines twin-engine MD-80s that were operated for months despite allegedly substandard bulkhead repairs. Agency investigators are looking into whether other MD-80s also may have been flown for repairs at low altitudes without passengers, The Wall Street Journal said.
No ruptures in the rear bulkhead on the American MD-80s have been reported to the FAA, the newspaper said.
But people familiar with the investigation said American potentially faces millions of dollars in civil penalties stemming from the widening investigation, and the FAA is also considering the unusual tactic of eventually taking punitive action against individual mechanics or supervisors who may have signed off on substandard work.
A spokeswoman for the FAA would not comment on specifics in the story.
“There is an investigation and it would be premature to talk about any of the results of that,” said FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown.
A spokesman for American Airlines could not be reached for comment
—Agenceis