Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC
American Airlines and US federal aviation safety officials are reviewing the carrier's operations over the past six years to determine if any factors link two fatal crashes and some serious incidents in which it has been involved.
A National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation is in progress into the crash landing on 2 June of an American Airlines Boeing MD-82 that killed 11 people . Flight 1420 skidded off a runway while landing at Little Rock National Airport in Arkansas during a thunderstorm. Weather and pilot fatigue are under the NTSB microscope as possible factors causing the pilots to carry out a misjudged landing.
American also suffered a fatal Boeing 757 crash in December 1995 while descending into Cali, Colombia, and has had four landing accidents, causing minor injuries.
The standard NTSB investigation includes a review of the event, crew training and flight operations standards. Meanwhile, the Federal Aviation Administration - supported by American and its pilots' union the Allied Pilots Association (APA) - has launched a four-month in-depth "systems review" of flight operations, with emphasis on crew work and rest scheduling.
The probe is part of the air transport oversight system created last October to improve safety monitoring of major US airlines.
Robert Baker, the airline's executive vice-president for operations, says American has launched its own "review of flight operations", including its procedures and flight training programme. Baker says "there appears to be some similarities in the history of accidents and incidents over the past six years." The APA wants an independent safety consultant to head the probe.
Meanwhile, American is maintaining its rules on pilot working hours amid unsubstantiated reports that some standby pilots called in at the last minute have fallen asleep while flying.
The APA says that pilot fatigue is "an industry-wide problem", but American says it has more restrictive duty and rest policies than the FAA demands. The crew of Flight 1420 had been on duty for 13h, below American's ceiling of 14h.
Source: Flight International
