Miami-Bound AA Flight With Loose Seats Returns To NYC
NEW YORK (CBSMiami/AP) — A Miami bound flight was forced to return to John F. Kennedy International Airport Monday after a row of seats became loose shortly after takeoff.
It is the second instance of loose seats in recent days. The airline said it is investigating all eight 757 jets to make sure the seats are secure.
A Boston-to-Miami American Airlines flight also had to make an emergency landing at JFK on Saturday due to a row of seats that became loose, according to the airline.
Flight 685 landed safely and was investigated by the airline.
The Federal Aviation Administration said both planes had recently undergone maintenance work that required seats to be removed and reinstalled. American spokeswoman Andrea Huguely said an initial review found that there could be a problem with the way the seats fit into tracks on the floor.
Former Pilot John Tristani told CBS station WCBS-TV that he finds the timing of this suspicious.
"It's no coincidence that we have a severe labor dispute going on. A vicious one. Now this has started to happen," he said.
But American Airlines pilot John Diacsuk said, "it'd be very easy for management to say that the pilots caused this problem and that's absolutely not true. We're professional pilots and that's what we do."
The airline said it is "conducting an internal investigation to determine why the row of seats became loose. We are in contact with the FAA and the FAA is aware of our internal review. Safety is our top priority. We never have – and never will – compromise the safety and reliability of our fleet."
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