Thu, Jan 29, 2009
Audit Determined Seat Change Took Planes Out Of Regs
The next time you're onboard an American Airlines trans-Atlantic
flight, you may notice fewer people onboard. The Fort Worth,
TX-based airline will limit the number of passengers allowed to fly
onboard its Boeing 767-300s, after the carrier found the planes did
not have the required number of life rafts onboard.
American spokesman Tim Wagner told The Associated Press the
problem stems from American's recently-redesigned business-class
cabins on the widebody planes, which expanded the number of
available seats.
Some planes have been flying since 2005 without a suitable
number of rafts onboard. Wagner said the problem came to light when
the airline reviewed life raft capacity on its recently-added
Boeing 737-800s -- spurred by the recent ditching of a US Airways
A320 -- and opted to conduct similar reviews throughout the
fleet.
FAA regulations require enough life rafts to accommodate a full
cabin of passengers, including children seated on parents' laps,
even of one life raft fails to inflate.
American's 767-300s can hold 236 people, including 11
crewmembers. Until more rafts are added -- American expects the
process to take about a month, including crewmember training -- the
carrier will limit passenger capacity to no more than 228 people on
767-300 flights to Europe and Latin America.
The airline stressed passengers were not endangered by the
oversight, as there are other flotation devices available for
passengers to use in the event of a water landing.
Wagner was not aware of any affected flights that are booked to
capacity. "Given the time of year and what's going on in the
economy, I'm not aware of any flights where we're going to have to
bump someone," he said.
American has 58 767-300s in its fleet. All other types passed
the test, Wagner said.
More News
Runway Lead-in Light System Runway Lead-in Light System Consists of one or more series of flashing lights installed at or near ground level that provides positive visual guidance a>[...]
Aero Linx: Aviation Without Borders Aviation Without Borders uses its aviation expertise, contacts and partnerships to enable support for children and their families – at hom>[...]
Dave Juwel's Aviation Marketing Stories ITBOA BNITBOB ... what does that mean? It's not gibberish, it's a lengthy acronym for "In The Business Of Aviation ... But Not In The Busine>[...]
From 2010 (YouTube Version): Yeah.... This IS A Really Cool Job When ANN's Nathan Cremisino took over the lead of our Aero-TV teams, he knew he was in for some extra work and a lot>[...]
Also: Junkers A50 Heritage, Montaer Grows, Dynon-Advance Flight Systems, Vans' Latest Officially, the Carbon Cub UL and Rotax 916 iS is now in its 'market survey development phase'>[...]