Tous
← Back to Squawk list
Oops: American Accidentally Flies Wrong Plane To Hawaii
American has sub-fleets of both ETOPS and non-ETOPS A321s. In other words, some are certified to fly under ETOPS conditions (ie, over oceans), while others aren’t. And it’s important for airlines to get that right. Well, it seems like on August 31, 2015, American didn’t get that right. On that day, American flew a non-ETOPS A321 — with tail number N137AA — from Los Angeles to Honolulu. (onemileatatime.boardingarea.com) Plus d'info...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
mistakes happened then and they happen today,but even back in the 70's and 80's when the dc 10 was a big deal,the flight attendants would notice a cart filled with "goodies" and marked for a hnl flight versus a long haul lax-nyc..they did actually serve more than beverages then and the f/a's always (and still do) check the catering carts..also f/a's back then (and today) wear mu muu type outfits or shirts for hnl trips..i could say a lot more but I wont..i was a gate agent for 28 years,and I can tell you this story is a "tall tale" as they say..i worked trips before there was acars and the pilots cchecked tail numbers,flight plans and fuel loads with dipatchers and ground personnel beack in "the good old days" before acars...
I wonder how that went over. "Heh, Yeah sorry about that.... it's not that big a deal right, I mean could have happened to anyone."
Hard to believe that kind of error can (and does) exist in this days electronics... :)
While the crew should have known to check ETOPS based on their flight planning, most of that is done by dispatch where most of the blame would exist. Once missed there it is incredibly easy to miss. I doubt the checklist of a non ETOPS aircraft has a line item saying ETOPS check? That's not a question of how to safely operate the airplane they are on, it is a question of which airplane they fly. It would be just like getting on a plane with aux tanks, the crew and planning need to decide what equipment to use, once on the plane it is there or not there.
Crew and dispatch missed it.
Sure....this was (if true) many years ago....nowadays with ACARS uplinks and such...not gonna happen. But back in the 1970s? (Or even 80s?)....seems plausible.....