FAA Inspectors Find Planes Still Out Of Compliance

More than 500 American Airlines flights were cancelled Tuesday, so the carrier could begin re-inspecting its entire 300-plane fleet of MD-80 airliners to insure proper stowage of wiring bundles inside the aircrafts' maingear wells.

"We regret and apologize that we are once again causing inconvenience to our customers," AMR CEO Gerard Arpey, said Tuesday.

Reuters reports the reason for this latest round of cancellations is the same as what forced the AMR-owned airline to ground the jets two weeks ago, as ANN reported.

American had thought the problem was behind it... but when FAA inspectors return to the carrier's Tulsa, OK maintenance center to check the carrier's work, they found several planes still out of compliance with a 2006 Airworthiness Directive.

"The FAA raised additional concerns," American postured in a written statement. "Specifically, some areas of concern included the spacing of the ties on the wiring bundle and the direction in which the retention clips and lacing cords were facing."

The MD-80 -- a catch-all name for the carrier's McDonnell Douglas-built MD-82 and MD-83 narrowbody airliners -- is the workhorse of American's fleet, and is used almost exclusively on short-to-medium-range hops.

In other words, the bulk of the carrier's domestic schedule... with over 1,000 daily trips impacted.

Work to reinspect the planes, and correct the situation, was to continue through the night... but chances are more flights will be cancelled Wednesday, as well.

FMI: www.aa.com