An American Airlines flight attendant has been ‘seriously’ injured and a second crew member has been left with minor injuries after the pilots of a Boeing 777 pumped on the brakes too hard as they were taxiing for takeoff at New York JFK on Tuesday night.
American Airlines flight AA106, which was bound for London Heathrow, ended up departing nearly two hours late on April 9 as the aircraft had to return to the gate so that the flight attendants could be provided medical care.
In a statement, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said that it would be investigating the accident, although the agency wasn’t able to comment on the extent of the injuries that the two crew members suffered.
“American Airlines Flight 106 returned to the terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York around 8:15 p.m. local time on Tuesday, April 9, after the crew reported a medical issue in the cabin while taxiing for takeoff,” the FAA said in an emailed statement.
“The Boeing 777 was headed to Heathrow Airport in London.”
American Airlines Flight 106 made international headlines in January 2023 when the pilots taxied onto an active runway where a Delta Air Lines jet bound for Santo Domingo had already been cleared for departure and was hurtling down the tarmac for takeoff.
The pilots of the Delta aircraft managed to stop in time to prevent a collision between the two aircraft, but following the incident, the AA pilots were allowed to depart for London.
By the time the aircraft had arrived at Heathrow and an investigation was underway, the cockpit voice recorder had already been written over. At present, the cockpit voice recorder on US-registered aircraft only records for two hours, but pilots have opposed increasing the recording time to 25 hours.
European airlines have been required to install 25-hour cockpit voice recorders on newly delivered jets since 2021 and the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has recommended longer-length CVRs for the last two years.
American Airlines did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the latest incident onboard Flight 106.
