American Eagle Airlines faces $2.9 million penalty
February 18th, 2010 - 4:25 am ICT by BNO NewsWASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) – American Eagle Airlines now faces a possible $2.9 million penalty for using airplanes in improper condition, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said Wednesday.
The airline allegedly operated more than 1,000 flights occupying airplanes with inadequate repairs on their landing gear doors.
Between February and May 2008, American Eagle allegedly conducted at least 1,178 passenger-carrying flights using four Bombardier jets with main landing gear doors that had not been repaired in accordance with an Airworthiness Directive that became effective in August 2006.
The directive required certain Bombardier jet landing gear to be inspected for cracks and other damage, including loose or missing fasteners. Affected doors were to be removed and replaced with new or repaired ones.
American Eagle found such discrepancies, but rather than removing the doors, the airline repaired them while they remained on the planes.
FAA was unaware that at least 961 flights took place using aircrafts in these conditions, and it alleges that despite the uncovered situation, American Eagle continued to operate these airplanes on 217 additional flights.
The airline later repaired the aircrafts according to the Airworthiness Directive, however, the violations resulted in a proposed civil penalty of $2.9 million.
“Following Airworthiness Directives is not optional,’’ said FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt. “The FAA does not hesitate to levy fines if maintenance standards are violated. Compliance with mandatory maintenance requirements ensures the highest levels of safety.”
American Eagle has 30 days to respond after the FAA’s civil penalty letter is received.
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Tags: aircrafts, airline, airplanes, airworthiness directive, airworthiness directives, american eagle airlines, babbitt, bno, cracks, discrepancies, faa administrator, fasteners, federal aviation administration, gear doors, jet landing, jets, maintenance requirements, maintenance standards, planes, washington d c