Sorry to disappoint you Wino, old boy, but I have no axe to grind with AA except their very poor ability (as a company) to remember the incidents/accidents from the past, and actually learn from them.
Good 'ole Larry in TN pointed out that AA was accident-free from 25 May '79 til 1995.
Lets concur for the moment that this is correct.
But look at the more recent record.
In Cali, the AA 757 rushed into a straight in approach, descended rapidly toward the hills (due to an improper FMS input) and when the GPWS alerted the crew that their actions were inappropriate, they tried to climb away...with the spoilers extended.
Ask yourself, does this sound like a reasonable and safe flight conduct?
The unmistakable answer is NO.
Then, in Little Rock, the Captain (a Chief Pilot no less) insists on conducting an unstabilized approach, with a thunderstorm overhead the airfield, and runs off the end.
This doesn't look to me like SAFE flight operations either.
The A300-600 accident is another.
It has been positively known for many years that the aggresive use of the rudder in swept-wing jet transport aircraft is very bad news, yet we find the First Officer pedaling the rudder like a bicycle.
Totally inappropriate, yet this is what he apparently has been taught by American Airlines.
And now Denver, with the crew conducting a totally unstabilized approach, and the result is landing short, with damage to the aircraft and ground equipment.
In all of these accidents, it was totally inappropriate pilot actions that caused the difficulty.
NO aircraft systems were found to be performing sub-standard.
There seems to me to be a common thread with all these, and that is American Airlines cannot, or will not, learn from the past, and apply safety of flight actions now.
AA does not deserve an air operators certificate, until they can demonstrate more prudent operations.
Last edited by 411A; 25th Nov 2004 at 17:49.