Clogged Fuel Filters Lead To Cancelled Flights

American Airlines was forced to ground 22 of its mainstay MD-80-series airliners earlier this month, after paint chips from recently installed replacement fuel tank covers made their way into the planes' fuel filters.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports American discovered the problem November 6, after warning lights on two MD-83s alerted pilots to the problem while inflight. Those planes completed their flights without incident, and the planes were then flown to American's maintenance center in Tulsa, OK.

Workers at the maintenance base quickly found the source of the problem: paint was flaking off fuel tank access covers recently installed on those planes. American began to fabricate its own covers this year, after the original equipment covers wore out... and stock replacements are no longer available.

Each MD-80 has 30 such covers, American spokesman John Hotard said. Maintenance crews inspected all 32 airliners that received the replacement covers since spring, and found paint chips flaking off the backs of the covers on 22 planes.

Crews thoroughly cleaned those covers, and reinstalled them before putting the planes back into service. The groundings led to some cancelled flights, although Hotard did not give exact numbers.

American has since changed the process for painting the access panels, so paint won't flake off of them.

McDonnell-Douglas MD-80s (a catch-all term for MD-82- and MD-83-type aircraft) by far comprise the largest portion of American's fleet. More than 300 of the airliners are in service with the Fort Worth-based airline.

FMI: www.aa.com