Maintenance slip-ups have damaged rear evacuation slides on several American Airlines jets, forcing the carrier to swiftly inspect and start follow-up work to bring its fleet of roughly 270 McDonnell Douglas MD-80 aircraft into full compliance with company and government safety rules.
The special inspections, which occurred last week, combined with promises by American to remove and properly reinstall emergency slides attached to the tail cones of all of its MD-80 aircraft, come amid heightened regulatory scrutiny of the carrier. The moves also underscore continuing tension between the AMR Corp. unit and the Federal Aviation Administration over maintenance oversight.
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