Engine Inspections, Documentation Completed On 60 Aircraft

Normal flight operations were resumed Thursday afternoon by Delta Connection regional carrier Atlantic Southeast Airlines, a mere day-and-a-half after grounding 60 aircraft to check its compliance with mandatory engine inspections.

As ANN reported, Atlantic Southeast grounded 60 of its 112 Bombardier CRJ200s late Tuesday after internal audits raised questions about whether federally-mandated safety inspections to the aircrafts' General Electric CF34 turbofans had been performed. ASA spokeswoman Kate Modolo said the airline notified the FAA, and voluntarily pulled the aircraft out of service.

Modolo said that it was uncertain from the audit whether the inspections of some 87 engines on 60 aircraft were actually overdue, or had been performed but not properly documented. Inspections of the grounded planes' engines, normally required every 5,000 hours of operation, began Tuesday night.

"Safety is our number one priority, and we apologize for the inconvenience this has been causing the passengers," Modolo told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, adding passengers "are being re-accommodated on next available flights."

USA Today reports the groundings caused the cancellation of 277 flights, affecting an estimated 8,500 passengers. Modolo said those passengers were rescheduled on other Delta Connection carriers and, in some cases, Delta itself.

FMI: www.flyasa.com, www.faa.gov