American Airlines could be in more FAA hot water over Paris flight

And it should be.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating why the pilot of an American Airlines flight from Dallas to Paris in which the Miami-based captain continued the 10-hour flight even after crew members heard what they believed to be an explosion in the cargo hold 14 minutes after takeoff.

As I blogged yesterday:

An e-mail battle is brewing between American cockpit pilots and management office pilots as to whether an American captain on a Dallas-Paris flight should have turned back to D/FW, or flown on as he actually did, after a 3x6 foot panel fell off the belly of his Boeing 767. Management says it was the best decision with available information.

Excuse me, but when you hear a noise and feel a vibration, shouldn’t you turn around?

Especially given the Federal Aviation Administration’s recent crackdown on safety inspections at American, with more due by the end of this month, this will have repercussions.

Anyway, the noise and vibration are now being called a “very strong vibration” and “a loud explosion,” according to an e-mail from an unnamed American flight attendant. It’s not clear whether or not this person was on the flight in question.

Wunderbar. And I’m flying an American 767 to San Francisco in three weeks. Out of D/FW.

As for the Steve Chapmans of the world who claim recent FAA crackdowns on American and Southwest are just CYAs, well, if CYAs will help safety, I’m all for it.