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Skin Scratches Ground Some American Airlines Jets

American Airlines is in a little bit of trouble with the FAA. Last week the airline starting checking out the aluminum skin on some of their Boeing 737 planes for scratches, dents, and other damage. Apparently the gate agents responsible for the jetways aren’t always the best drivers and these bridges sometimes rub the planes the wrong way. The FAA is concerned because American didn’t notify them of these issues in a timely manner.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the carrier waited a few months before spilling the beans to the FAA, and only started to review all planes with this potential issue after the FAA told them to do so. American Airlines claims that issues with one plane donn’t make a trend; however, they are cooperating with the inspectors.

There’s about 80 planes that need to be checked out, and all of the inspections should have been wrapped up over the weekend. Three planes have been taken out of service for further service so far, so double check your flights before heading to the airport today—just in case there are a few cancellations sprinkled throughout their schedule.

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[Photo: wbaiv]