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American Morning

American Airlines' Pilots Asking Airbus A300 be Grounded Might Get Their Wish

Aired January 30, 2002 - 07:45   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCOHR: In the wake of the deadly plane crash in the Rockaways outside New York City last November, the concern that a defective rudder design may have caused it has led to dozens of American Airlines' pilots asking that the Airbus A300, the kind of plane that crashed in the Rockaways, be grounded. Now it looks like they might get their wish or at least part of it.

American Airlines has announced it's taking the A300 Airbus out of service on its transatlantic routes. In less than two hours, the last American Airbus A300 will depart Boston and begin the trip across the Atlantic and that will be it. But it turns out there have been other problems with this airplane as well. We have an exclusive report now from Charles Feldman.

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CHARLES FELDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With American Airlines taking the Airbus A300 off its London routes, several senior pilots are taking themselves off the troubled jetliner.

This is one of the last American Airbus planes to cross the Atlantic, leaving Boston a day ago. The final flight from London will land in Newark Thursday. The airline said it's taking the A300 off the transatlantic run because larger planes are now available. But pilots say they were told business travelers are hesitant to fly on the Airbus after one crashed in New York in November.

NINA DENRINOS, TRAVEL AGENT: They may say, "Oh, I heard something about the Airbus with the American pilots. Why don't you put me on this other type of aircraft."

FELDMAN: American Airlines said it planned to switch its London aircraft before the crash. It will take 10 of its Airbuses out of service; almost a third of its A300 fleet to change the seating for use on flights to the Caribbean. With fewer pilots needed, 10 of American's experienced captains decided to transfer off the Airbus to other jumbo jets. Some for personal reasons; others for safety concerns.

The tail snapped off the Airbus in the New York crash. Sources say one pilot changing planes wrote American's president, asking a tail be removed from another Airbus and torn apart to see if there are hidden problems. Airbus referred questions to American Airlines, which said it didn't consider the number of pilots switching to be unusual.

The Airbus has had rudder control problems before. In June, two summers ago, the crew of an American Airlines' Airbus climbing out of London heard a loud bang at the rear of the plane. The captain has told fellow pilots and others, "It felt like it went sideways. It felt like it went left, right, left, right." "I have never felt an airplane do that. It felt like the rudder was moving on its own." The crew turned the A300 back to London.

A British investigation found nothing wrong with the plane and suggested weight turbulence from another jumbo jet caused the fishtailing. But all three members of the cockpit crew dispute that. One told other pilots, "In retrospect, I think we were very lucky that day."

(on camera): Just two weeks ago, the crew of another American Airlines' Airbus taking off from Miami for Venezuela felt their plane fishtailing and went back to Miami. That Airbus is still grounded, undergoing tests. The airline says, engine vibration, not the rudder, may have caused the problem. But the National Transportation Safety Board is making the latest incident part of its investigation into the New York crash.

Charles Feldman, CNN, Los Angeles.

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