FAA to Fine American Airlines $24.2 Million

The FAA has proposed its largest fine ever over maintenance violations, which in this case could have caused fires and explosions, according to the regulator. American Airlines can appeal the fine, more than twice as large as the previous record-setting penalty.

New York Times:

The F.A.A. said American failed to follow an agency order, called an Airworthiness Directive, dating from 2006, that required airlines to inspect how some wires were bundled on the wheel wells of their McDonnell Douglas MD-80 planes.

The agency said that chafing on the wires might spark a fire or cause an explosion because of its proximity to hydraulic fluids or the fuel tanks.

Shortly after a 2008 deadline, the F.A.A. said it detected violations at American on 10 MD-80s during inspections at the airline’s hub in Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and its maintenance center in Tulsa, Okla.

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