XBradTC

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XBradTC

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American Airlines accidentally flew the wrong plane from L.A. to Hawaii last month – The Washington Post

In late August, American Airlines accidentally flew the wrong plane from Los Angeles to Hawaii, a mix-up that violated Federal Aviation Administration regulations.The mistake, first reported by aviation blogger Brian Sumers, occurred on Aug. 31 — just days after the airline began flying Airbus A321 planes on the L.A. to Hawaii route (other planes in…

In late August, American Airlines accidentally flew the wrong plane from Los Angeles to Hawaii, a mix-up that violated Federal Aviation Administration regulations.The mistake, first reported by aviation blogger Brian Sumers, occurred on Aug. 31 — just days after the airline began flying Airbus A321 planes on the L.A. to Hawaii route (other planes in American Airlines’ fleet have long flown this route).A spokesman for the airline confirmed to The Washington Post that a version of the A321 plane that was not certified to make long flights over water — as on the route between Los Angeles and Hawaii — was accidentally flown that day.

Source: American Airlines accidentally flew the wrong plane from L.A. to Hawaii last month – The Washington Post

Oops.

Figure, about halfway to Hawaii, the pilots kinda got to wondering why there wasn’t an ETOPS sticker in the cockpit.

Guess that’s going to be another item on the pre-takeoff checklist.

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  1. JoshO

    Just paint some big numbers somewhere on the cabin the the crew will walk by during the preflight, Co-pilot at least still has to to do a walk around, right? Hell, put them right on top of the cabin above the cockpit window! It will look cool like a race car! Also threaten to tell the passengers which plane to expect if it happens again. That will be all sorts of fun for the crew.

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  2. timactual

    ” there wasn’t an ETOPS sticker in the cockpit.”

    Does that go on the same side as the JiffyLube sticker?

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  3. xbradtc

    Seriously, ETOPS birds have a sticker right there on the instrument panel- “This aircraft is certified for ETOPS.”

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  4. Tarl

    Pilot guys — how do you not notice you’re in the wrong kind of plane? Are the controls identical? Geez when I get in a rentacar the dash looks different and the light/wiper controls are in a different place so right away I know I’m in a different car than usual.

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  5. Tarl

    OK, two different types of A321… that makes some sense.

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  6. xbradtc

    The cockpits are (with the exception of the sticker) identical. Though they should also have been tipped when firing up the FMC, as the very first page has the aircraft model on it.

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