AA incident sparks standards query
Published:Wednesday | September 1, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Last December's incident, in which an American Airlines (AA) jet skidded off a wet runway at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston while landing, has prompted United States crash investigators to review how well some aeroplanes' braking systems perform on various runway surfaces during rainy conditions.
A report on the Wall Street Journal's website yesterday stated that sources familiar with the investigations said National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators were challenging long-standing airline practices and technical assumptions regar-ding braking capabilities on wet runways.
American Airlines Flight 331, which was en route from Miami to Kingston during rainy weather on December 22, was halfway down the runway when the incident occurred.
According to the Wall Street Journal report, sources also claimed the technical capabilities of the advanced Boeing 737-800 jet should have enabled it to stop safely on the runway as investigators did not believe there was a significant pool of water present.
The report stated that preliminary information obtained by investigators showed the twin-engine plane had begun slowing down but failed to decelerate as quickly as expected, and slightly picked up speed for a brief period.
Levels not reached
The report also claimed that, even after maximum manual braking was applied, the deceleration rate never reached levels projected by earlier flight tests and engineering calculations for the apparent runway conditions that night.
Director general of the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority, Lieutenant Colonel Oscar Derby, yesterday acknowledged he was aware of the online report.
"You can well imagine if you have a braking system meant to do a job and you find it hasn't done it, then you are going to look at whether the standards for certification are indeed appropriate," said Derby.
He noted that the brakes for the Boeing 737-800 aircraft had worked as advertised, according to the investigations conducted on Flight 331.
- Philip Hamilton