Emergency landing after row of seats comes loose

[rifbound]

Jay Leno, The Tonight Show, Oct. 2, 2012:
“American Airlines has a new slogan: ‘Your seat is free to move about the cabin.’

“You hear about this? For the second time, the second time this week, on American Airlines, a row of seats that wasn’t bolted down went sliding around the cabin. I think it’s deliberate. This is the airline trying to shake all the loose change out of your pocket.”

LMAO, that's funny! It's not but it is.

 

[BigMac]

Guess it's not all timco's fault:
http://www.newson6.com/story/19707846/american-airlines-loose-seats-traced-to-tulsa-maintenance-base

Where on the hyperlink you posted does it state it wasn't SCAABCOs fault?

 

[BigMac]

Where on the hyperlink you posted does it state it wasn't SCAABCOs fault?

Unable to edit or delete the above post.
Ignore it.

 

[kirkpatrick]

Just think what can happen in case you hit severe turbulence and that seat goes flying around.
I would not want to be anywhere near it.

I wouldn't want to be anywhere near severe turbulence while pushing a beverage cart down the aisle either. I don't know how many empty seats there were on that flight but it seems the row could be tied down to an empty row with seat belt extensions and a lot of drama could have been avoided.

MK

 

[BigMac]

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSLNE89200T20121003?irpc=932

 

[enough already]

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSLNE89200T20121003?irpc=932

Funny how they don't say WHO installed them...

 

[Veritas]

At this point, the company (which has been known to stretch the truth) is saying that both Timco and Tulsa have removed and reinstalled the seats.

It was worded vaguely and I did not read it that way.

Airline spokesman has now made it clear that the work was performed by outside contractors and inspected by AA mechanics.

 

[Bob Owens]

Seats are idiot proof, if you know how to install them.

What I'm saying if the rear cleats were secured to one peice of track that terminated before the front cleat and that next track was not correctly positioned the front cleat could pop out even with the rear cleat locked in, it would have gone unnoticed and of no consequence as long as a row had all the cleats mounted in the same track.

 

[unionguy1]

Let's stop second guessing our maintenance, we have never had a problem with seats not being locked down! Now we have 6 confirmed A/C that have seats that were NOT installed properly, I hope the APA brings this up in their negotiations.

How true. No problem until outsourced.

 

[AC Tynker]

What I'm saying if the rear cleats were secured to one peice of track that terminated before the front cleat and that next track was not correctly positioned the front cleat could pop out even with the rear cleat locked in, it would have gone unnoticed and of no consequence as long as a row had all the cleats mounted in the same track.

Back in 2000 the line I was on the line that was tasked with repitching all fleets except 777's. We had 5 lines going at once, so there were 5 aircraft a day going out every day and not one had any problems with seats coming loose. We did F100's, 727's, 737's, MD80's, 757's, 767's and A300's and 737 acceptance from Boeing, Drop-Ins and all Overnight checks (912's mostly}. Like I said not one interrupt plagued our finished aircraft. The secret was Inspectors and Mechanics that knew how to implement attention to detail and speed. After the seats, dividers and closets were set and we finished all wiring, mechanics would check each and every seat for security and workmanship then the Inspectors would do the same check with blueprints rolled across the seats while mechanics started the PSU's.

In short I don't think there is a buyable excuse in my opinion.

 

[amt66]

Hey horton thanks for the Ot!

 

[FWAAA]

What I'm saying if the rear cleats were secured to one peice of track that terminated before the front cleat and that next track was not correctly positioned the front cleat could pop out even with the rear cleat locked in, it would have gone unnoticed and of no consequence as long as a row had all the cleats mounted in the same track.

This is from an article late today:

Campbell said new seats on some of American's 757s have a different fastening system — instead of four bolts that are wrench-tightened, they are held in place by two bolts in back that are tightened with wrenches and two in front that are hand-tightened. The seats must be positioned precisely so that they lock into place.

"It's a very temperamental job," he said.

http://www2.journalnow.com/news/2012/oct/03/1/american-airlines-blames-timco-for-loose-seats-ar-2662103/

If the journalists accurately paraphrased Campbell, and if he accurately described the new seats, then who is the idiot that approved the new seats with the "tempermental" hand-tightened bolts? Hand-tightened bolts? WTF??

I am not an engineer, but this does not inspire confidence. When you're bolting things together and you properly torque the bolts, those things don't separate unless the bolt fails, and that's not real common. Hand-tightened? I've replaced faucets with hand-tightened supply lines, but my bathroom never encounters vibration or high G-forces like airplane seat mounts probably do. My new dishwasher had a plastic supply inlet and warned to hand-tighten the supply line lest you break the plastic fitting. But the dishwasher never has to endure three humans weighing upwards of 600-750 pounds nor the abuse that a row of three seats receives on a daily basis.

 

[Rogallo]

If the journalists accurately paraphrased Campbell, and if he accurately described the new seats, then who is the idiot that approved the new seats with the "tempermental" hand-tightened bolts? Hand-tightened bolts? WTF??

A Bean Counter..!!!

 

[dfw gen]

got to love the spin at unamerican airlines. campbell was useless at afw i cant see any improvement. this company could not tell the truth if their life depended on it. oh yea it does.

 

[xUT]

This is from an article late today:



http://www2.journaln...ats-ar-2662103/

If the journalists accurately paraphrased Campbell, and if he accurately described the new seats, then who is the idiot that approved the new seats with the "tempermental" hand-tightened bolts? Hand-tightened bolts? WTF??

I am not an engineer, but this does not inspire confidence. When you're bolting things together and you properly torque the bolts, those things don't separate unless the bolt fails, and that's not real common. Hand-tightened? I've replaced faucets with hand-tightened supply lines, but my bathroom never encounters vibration or high G-forces like airplane seat mounts probably do. My new dishwasher had a plastic supply inlet and warned to hand-tighten the supply line lest you break the plastic fitting. But the dishwasher never has to endure three humans weighing upwards of 600-750 pounds nor the abuse that a row of three seats receives on a daily basis.

I believe that they would have to be FAA approved.