Three Incidents In December Leads To Increased Oversight

After having three landing incidents in quick succession, American Airlines (AAL) is now under investigation by the FAA.  Pilot training, fatigue, and weather-related landing procedures are all likely to receive an in-depth review in addition to increased FAA inspections.

"In situations where there may be several incidents involving a single carrier over a short period of time, FAA inspectors increase their oversight, which we're doing now, and conduct a review of those events to determine whether they might be indicative of a larger issue," FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford said in a statement released Friday.

AAL's string of incidents started when an MD-80 landed erratically at CLT on Dec 13, leaving the runway and then striking the right wingtip.  As ANN reported, there were no injuries though pilot fatigue was being investigated.

On December 22, AAL flight 331 overran the runway at KIN in Jamaica during heavy rains.  The fuselage of the B737 broke into three pieces with reports that many of the 148 passengers were injured.

Another AAL MD-80 struck a wingtip while landing at AUS on Dec 24.  No injuries were reported.

AAL spokesman Tim Wagner told The Wall Street Journal that the three incidents will be investigated separately. "We take each event as an individual event" he said.

As for the result of the FAA's investigation, Lunsford noted that "the FAA communicates its findings to the air carrier and assists in the development of the appropriate corrective action."

FMI: www.FAA.gov, www.aa.com