American Airlines plane sabotage: What we know and safety questions answered
The arrest of a veteran American Airlines mechanic this week for allegedly sabotaging a plane at Miami International Airport an hour before takeoff in July sparked condemnation by the airline and its mechanics union Friday — and raised troubling safety concerns for travelers.
In a letter to employees, the world's largest airline called Alani's alleged tampering of a Boeing 737-800 bound for the Bahamas with 150 people on board an "extremely serious'' incident and said it was "disturbing and disappointing to all of us.''"The allegations involve one individual who compromised the safety of one of our aircraft,'' he said in the letter.
"These are the people who maintain the airplane, who fly the airplane,'' said John Cox, a retired US Airways captain who runs aviation safety consulting firm Safety Operating Systems and writes USA TODAY'S Ask the Captain column."It's very appropriate, it's very necessary, it's essential that they have access to the airplane.''
Cox said there are so many moving parts on the aircraft ramp that Alani, a veteran worker, might have appeared as if he was simply doing his job. Cox walked around planes every day with a different to-do list and few second looks. "It's easily detectable because they're going to get a big error message on the front of their screens on the instrument panel,'' Waldock said."It would tell them that the system isn't functioning properly.
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