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5 Oct, 2015

Captain dies at the controls

Death0 Comments

The pilot of an American Airlines Airbus A320 flight from Phoenix to Boston dies mid flight. An air stewardess – apparently a former nurse – tries to help. The company says the cause of death is from “illness.” The co-pilot takes over and lands the flight in Syracuse.

Medical emergency, captain is incapacitated, request handling for runway 108.

17 Sep, 2015

Flights resumed

Travel incident0 Comments

American Airlines fixes a technology problem that grounded flights. The Federal Aviation Administration says the airline had requested to halt service to Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth and Miami airports. A spokesman for the carrier has cited a “connectivity issue” for the halt in service to the three airports.

We have resolved connectivity issues that led to a ground stop today. We apologize for the inconvenience and are working to get our customers on their way as soon as possible.

31 Aug, 2015

Sends uncertified aircraft across Pacific

Travel incident0 Comments

American confirms an Airbus A321S was accidentally put from Los Angeles to Hawaii. The aircraft was not certified to fly over the Pacific. The plane was part of the airline’s long-term strategy to upgrade service, replacing a Boeing 757 that flew that route up until last month. American immediately notified the flight crew and the Federal Aviation Administration, and the decision was made to allow the crew to complete the flight. The plane lands safely in Honolulu. Source pilot:

Somebody screwed up big-time, somewhere. All (extended operation) related equipment must be certified and be operational before a plane is cleared to fly. That means everything from oil quantities, to crew oxygen quantities. Thank God they didn’t have an emergency on that flight.

4 Aug, 2015

Ends trophy shipments

Makes Statement0 Comments

American, Delta, and United ban the transport of lion, leopard, elephant, rhino or buffalo, animals known in Africa as the “big five”, because they are the hardest to kill on foot. Delta, the only American airline to fly directly between the United States and Johannesburg, will also review policies on accepting other hunting trophies with government agencies and other organizations that support legal shipments.

24 Jul, 2015

Price gouging investigation

Accusation0 Comments

The US Department of Transportation is investigating five airlines (Delta, JetBlue, American, United and Southwest) for increasing fares following the Amtrak 188 crash of May 12th. The letter is due in 30 days and there is a separate investigation by the Justice department. According to a copy of the letter sent to Delta’s chief counsel the DOT wants a spreadsheet of the average fare by market, day, and fare class for flights on routes in the corridor from April 28th to May 26th. It also wants the number of tickets sold and passengers carried, as well as comparison data from last year, as well as ten other requests. Transportation Secretary Foxx:

The idea that any business would seek to take advantage of stranded rail passengers in the wake of such a tragic event is unacceptable. This department takes all allegations of airline price-gouging seriously, and we will pursue a thorough investigation of these consumer complaints.

The airlines have denied wrongdoing and have pledged to co-operate.