Rows Of Seats Came Loose From The Floor On Two 757s

FAA and American Airlines officials are inspecting two AA Boeing 757s that had rows of passenger seats come loose from the floor during flight over the past several days. The airline said it has grounded its other six 757s as a "precaution."

Both aircraft had recently had maintenance overhauls completed at a contract facility, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal, though airline mechanics reportedly re-worked some of the seats after the maintenance.

The FAA says more than a dozen rows of seats on one of the planes were not properly secured after being removed from the aircraft.

The first incident occurred over the weekend on an American flight from Boston to Miami. It diverted to JFK in New York after a row of seats came loose. Twelve other rows were found to be loose on that airplane after landing. The second incident happened Monday on a flight that had originated at Kennedy. Three rows of seats were found to be loose on that airplane. It returned to JFK. No one on either flight was injured because to the problems.

The FAA said in a statement that "preliminary information indicates that a row of three seats in the coach cabin apparently became loose" on the flight from JFK. American confirmed the events, but said that all of the seats were installed by contract maintainers, and that the work was not associated with any one particular facility.

Maintenance issues are being cited as one reason for a recent spate of cancellations of AA flights as it continues to work through contentious labor issues with its pilots. AA said it was cooperating fully with the FAA in the investigation.

(AA 757 photo from file)

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