American Airlines Inspecting 87 Boeing 757 Aircraft:
American Airlines is inspecting two-thirds of its Boeing 757 fleet after a hole ripped open in October on one of its 757s flying from Miami to Boston.
The Fort Worth-based carrier is checking 87 of its 124 Boeing 757 aircraft based on a service bulletin issued by Boeing, airline spokesman Tim Smith said.
Close to half the inspections have been completed, Smith said.
“We have been accomplishing the inspections expeditiously as the aircraft flow through our maintenance facilities for other routine maintenance,” Smith said. “There is nothing we can report at this time as to any findings related to the inspections.”
On Oct. 26, a 1-by-2-foot hole in a Boeing 757-200 aircraft at 31,000 feet opened just above the passenger loading door on the left side near the front of the aircraft. The cabin lost pressure and the plane made an emergency landing in Miami.
Afterward, the plane was grounded as inspectors worked to determine what caused the hole and whether metal fatigue was at fault.
Boeing issued its service bulletin Nov. 22, asking operators to inspect a portion of the upward fuselage of some 757s, Boeing spokeswoman Julie O’Donnell said.
The company said 667 airplanes worldwide are affected by the bulletin.
The Federal Aviation Administration is expected to make Boeing’s bulletin inspections mandatory soon and is preparing an airworthiness directive for operators of the Boeing 757.
On Friday, The Wall Street Journal reported that the inspections had begun and said government investigators have been looking at the American accident, as well as cracks found on a United Airlines 757, also in October.
Earlier this year, the FAA required airlines to check for cracks in 135 Boeing 737s after government safety inspectors determined that metal fatigue caused a Southwest Airlines plane’s fuselage to rip at 35,000 feet in July 2009.
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