American Airlines Airbus A321 Diverts Due To Loss Of Engine Power

iatanews

1 year ago

On July 3rd, an American Airlines Airbus A321 suffered an engine failure as it began a flight from Dallas to Palm Springs. The crew decided to divert the flight and return the aircraft to Dallas just minutes after becoming airborne. The jet has been on the ground for over four days.

Incident details

On Monday, July 3rd, an Airbus A321-200 operated by American Airlines departed Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) for Palm Springs (PSP) as flight AA2709. The aircraft is registered N145AN and has the manufacturer’s serial number (MSN) 6783. FlightRadar24.com data indicates that the jet departed at 19:46 local time. As reported by The Aviation Herald, the aircraft, with 161 people onboard, was climbing out of DFW’s runway 18L and encountered an engine issue just a few minutes into the climb. FlightRadar24.com speed and altitude data show that the climb was stopped at about 5,100 feet (1,555 meters) less than three minutes after lifting off.

Photo: FlightRadar24.com

The crew then declared Mayday reporting that one of its two IAE V2533 engines was experiencing power loss. The crew worked through the related checklists before returning to DFW. A safe landing was completed on runway 18R about 20 minutes after departure.

Recovering from the situation

An incident like this during the busy summer holiday season would undoubtedly frustrate the airline and its passengers, particularly the evening before the 4th of July. Of course, of all airports where an incident and diversion could occur for American Airlines, Dallas-Fort Worth would probably be the best-case scenario. This is due to the airport’s status as the airline’s largest hub and base of operations. This increases the likelihood of a replacement aircraft being readily available.

The Aviation Herald reports that a replacement A321-200 with registration N904AA was dispatched to complete flight AA2709. The jet reached Palm Springs with a delay of about three and a half hours, departing at 23:18 and arriving at 23:46 local time.

As for the occurrence aircraft, the nearly eight-year-old N145AN has been on the ground most of the past week. Indeed, it had not operated any flights between July 3rd and July 7th. At the time of this article’s publication, the A321 is still on the ground in Dallas, though FlightRadar24.com data indicates that it is scheduled to fly once again on July 8th with a service to Seattle (AA2767).

N145AN was delivered to American Airlines in September 2015 and has flown with the airline ever since. The aircraft is configured with 20 domestic first class recliner seats and another 170 seats in economy class. American Airlines has a total of 218 A321-200s with a current average age of 11 years. It also has 70 of the newer Airbus A321neos, with an average age of just over two years.

Have you ever flown out of Dallas-Fort Worth? How do you think American Airlines handled the situation? Share your experiences by leaving a comment!

Sources: Planespotters.net, FlightRadar24.com, ch-aviation.com, The Aviation Herald

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