Frightening audio recordings reveal the intense moment when an American Airlines pilot made an urgent mayday call due to multiple issues affecting the plane just after takeoff.
The Airbus A321-211, heading to Philadelphia, had to quickly return to Boston Logan International Airport merely ten minutes after departing at 6:45 pm on Sunday.
On a recording posted by LiveATC.net, the pilot informed air traffic control, “Boston, American 2616, we’re descending to 8,000 feet, declaring a mayday.
“We need to head back to Boston. We’ve lost the autopilot, lost auto-thrust, and there’s a position disagreement between the two flight management systems.”
The pilot further emphasized the emergency to ground authorities, stating, “We have multiple failures, including navigation and automation as well.”
He then stressed there were “200 souls on board” and “237 minutes’ worth of fuel”.
Data from FlightAware shows the pilot was guided by ground staff back at Boston, where he landed the Airbus 53 minutes after its original departure.
From the air traffic control audio, it appears a fire truck was ready on runway 22L, although the pilot mentioned there were no structural problems with the plane.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is now investigating what may have caused the mid-air failures on flight 2616.
A spokesperson explained, “American Airlines Flight 2616 safely returned to Boston Logan International Airport at approximately 7:30 p.m. local time on Sunday, August 17, after the crew noted a potential issue with the flight system.
“The Airbus A321 was headed to Philadelphia International Airport. The FAA will investigate.”
In a statement, American Airlines confirmed the Airbus landed safely and said the plane has since been taken out of service.
A spokesperson said, “American Airlines flight 2616 with service from Boston (BOS) to Philadelphia (PHL) returned to BOS shortly after take-off due to a maintenance issue.
“The flight landed safely and taxied to the gate under its own power.
“The aircraft has been taken out of service to be inspected by our maintenance team.”
The spokesperson added, “We never want to disrupt our customers’ travel plans and apologize for the inconvenience.”
US on edge over ‘cluster’ of plane crashes
A series of devastating plane crashes, including the mid-air collision above DC that killed 67, has left Americans terrified of traveling by air.
However, aviation expert and attorney Jason Matzus told The U.S. Sun the crashes can be attributed to “random clustering.”
“While these events are tragic, the likely explanation is simply ‘random clustering,’ which occurs when multiple crashes occur over a short period, warping our general perception and causing us to think that there is an increasing trend in plane crashes,” Matzus said.
“When in reality these crashes, despite being so close together, are merely coincidental and not caused by a systemic safety issue.”
The short period Matzus referred to was just a matter of three weeks. The aviation mishaps included:
January 29 – A military helicopter and American Airlines plane collided at the Washington DC airport, killing 67 people
January 31 – An air ambulance carrying a 6-year-old girl and her mom crashed on a street in Philadelphia, killing seven people in total
February 5 – A Japan Airlines flight hit a parked Delta plane at Seattle SeaTac Airport and no one was injured
February 6 – A small commuter plane on its way to Nome, Alaska, crashed killing all 10 people on board
February 10 – Motley Crue singer Vince Neil’s private jet collided with another plane, killing the pilot and injuring four others
February 17 – A Delta plane crashed on the runway at Toronto Pearson International Airport, miraculously killing no one but injuring 21
February 19 – Two planes collided at Marana Airport in Arizona, killing two people
February 24 – Smoke filled a Delta Airlines flight cabin forcing passengers to evacuate by a slide after making an emergency landing in Atlanta
March 9 – A Beechcraft Bonanza aircraft crashed into a retirement village parking lot in Manheim, Pennsylvania
March 13 – An American Airlines jet engine erupted into flames at the Denver airport, forcing passengers to escape onto the plane’s wing
MORE AIR EMERGENCIES
Sunday’s American Airlines emergency came just weeks after a United Airlines pilot declared a mayday after an engine had failed shortly after taking off from Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia.
The Boeing 787, carrying 219 passengers and 11 crew members, was heading to Munich, Germany.
But when the plane ascended to 5,000 feet, the pilot realized that they would have to return to the airport as soon as possible.
A disturbing radio call to air traffic control captured the pilot saying, “Engine failure, left engine. Mayday, mayday, mayday.”
The controller then quickly responded and said, “Are you able to make your way back to the field at this time.”
With the quick work of air traffic control, the pilot was able to land in a safe place just 10 miles away from the airport to dump fuel.
After this, the plane grounded back at the Washington airport just 30 minutes past the takeoff time.
