AA flew 'wrong plane' to Hawaii

coylemj

Was this to do with lifejackets or why would a first world Airbus A320 not be certified to fly long distance over water? Cabin staff not all certified swimmers?

An American Airlines plane that was not cleared to undertake long flights over water was flown from Los Angeles to Hawaii by mistake, violating US Federal Aviation Association regulations.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11862886/American-Airlines-flew-wrong-plane-to-Hawaii.html

Bigcheeze

More than likely no life jackets on board as US domestic flights do not go over water, with the exception of Hawaii.

coylemj

Bigcheeze wrote: »

More than likely no life jackets on board as US domestic flights do not go over water, with the exception of Hawaii.

When Sullenberger landed the Airbus on the Hudson, do I recall that all of the passengers standing on the wings waiting to be rescued were wearing lifejackets - yet that was a NYC to Nth. Carolina flight?

Let's also not forget that hundreds of domestic flights surely go over the Great Lakes every day.

L1011

coylemj wrote: »

Was this to do with lifejackets or why would a first world Airbus A320 not be certified to fly long distance over water? Cabin staff not all certified swimmers?

An American Airlines plane that was not cleared to undertake long flights over water was flown from Los Angeles to Hawaii by mistake, violating US Federal Aviation Association regulations.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11862886/American-Airlines-flew-wrong-plane-to-Hawaii.html

ETOPS rather than over-water I think was the issue here; but as it is many craft in the US aren't equipped for over-water either. Saves money when you don't do something that'll likely get an FAA fine.

BonkeyDonker

Bigcheeze wrote: »

More than likely no life jackets on board as US domestic flights do not go over water, with the exception of Hawaii.

Huge thread on airliner.net about this - the aircraft had all the over water gear. It was not however ETOPS certified - which is a complete other baby.

Also a lot of flights to Florida, Alaska and the Caribbean would be over water so most aircraft would have rafts etc to allow for fleet flexibility.

gctest50

Etops - Engines Turn Or Passengers Swim

American has two types of A321s in its standard first class and coach configuration —
the A321H, which can fly to Hawaii,
and the A321S, which cannot.

Obtaining ETOPs certification is not difficult but it is a complicated process, and so there’s no reason to certify aircraft that won’t fly on long routes over water.


http://wapo.st/1LrDAfL

coylemj

ETOPS it is then, thanks all.

smurfjed

Overwater in FAA land is actually 50 nms from land, so a lot of aircraft would have the required safety equipment. In this case the crew would be qualified, the aircraft would be dispatched under ETOPS rules, but its unlikely that the aircraft would have the required fire suppression systems.

I'm sure that the aircraft itself was completely oblivious to the fact that it was overwater

duskyjoe

Hmmm......and the buck stops where? The Captain. S/He would have known they were on a MNPS/ETOPs flight re their routing. They have to sign off the tech log and that signature holds it weight re the legal end of things. The first thing the Capt should have checked was that the aircraft was ETOPs approved. This usually is accompanied by a large sticker on the front of log stating the aircrafts status including if it's CatIII or downgraded. Simple things can certainly turn into big things.