American Airlines Statement in Regards to Flight 31 of Aug. 5
August 13 2008 - 11:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
FORT WORTH, Texas, Aug. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- American
Airlines has determined that oil residue heated by the engine
caused Flight 31, bound from Los Angeles to Honolulu, to return to
Los Angeles International Airport on Aug. 5. The odor of the oil
and a smoky haze was taken into the cabin through the air
conditioning system. We understand that the event was unsettling
for our passengers, and have reached out to our passengers
individually. In all instances such as this, American Airlines
conducts a thorough review of the events in order to learn from
them. The review of the events of Flight 31 has determined that the
flight crew acted appropriately in all instances onboard. The
captain appropriately decided to return and have the issue resolved
on the ground. The flight landed safely after being airborne for a
total of 57 minutes. The safe operation of this flight was never in
jeopardy. Our pilots followed standard operating procedure by
returning to Los Angeles. American Airlines procedure allows for an
evacuation when there is smoke in the cabin of an aircraft. Those
procedures also allow for flight attendants to initiate an
evacuation. The flight attendants acted appropriately to evacuate
Flight 31, and in fact, the evacuation was accomplished quickly,
exactly according to procedure, and with only very minor injuries
-- which are common in slide evacuations. "We are proud of the way
our entire flight crew handled Flight 31," said Lauri Curtis,
American's Vice President -- Onboard Service. "We support their
action, commend their professionalism, and know that the training
they participate in yearly plays a major role in handling scenarios
like this." This review simply allows American Airlines to improve
its processes for our customers in the future. DATASOURCE: American
Airlines CONTACT: Corporate Communications of American Airlines,
Fort Worth, Texas, +1-817-967-1577, Web site: http://www.aa.com/
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