FAA vs. AA Round 1: MD-80 Grounding Reports

NY Times:

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American Airlines and F.A.A. Differ on Groundings

By MATTHEW L. WALD
Published: May 17, 2008

WASHINGTON — American Airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration, endeavoring to explain the biggest disruption to air travel in years, disagreed on the fundamental facts in reports each submitted to the federal transportation secretary.

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The F.A.A., in the unusual position of being told to report to its parent agency in parallel with an airline it regulates, said that reinspection of the American planes had found “instances of chafing between wire bundles and other surfaces.”

There was also “incorrect use” of wrappers and fasteners, representing “serious and unacceptable failures,” the agency said.

But American insisted that no wires were chafed. A spokesman for the airline, John Hotard, said it found “two aircraft where the thick protective shroud had some evidence of rubbing.” [Full Article]

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