A Miami-bound American Airlines flight made an emergency landing at JFK when a row of passenger seats became unbolted and dangerously slid around like a carnival ride, The Post has learned.
In yet another blow to the beleaguered air carrier, which is struggling with labor strife and bankruptcy, the Boston-to-Miami flight scheduled for Saturday morning was diverted to JFK because the seats might have gone airborne, possibly colliding with passengers, aviation officials confirmed.
“A row of seats basically became unbolted from the floor. The seats were completely not attached,” said Sam Mayer, a New York-based AA pilot and spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association.
“With turbulence, you have to be cautious. That’s why everyone has to stow everything under the seat to prevent loose objects from flying around the cabin — and you’ve got a whole row of seats unbolted,” Mayer added. “It’s a head-scratcher, the first time I’ve heard of it in 24 years with American.”
The crew became alerted to the problem after takeoff, but the Boeing 757 was already too far out to return to Logan Airport, and requested an emergency landing at JFK.
Because the jet had just taken off it had to land “heavy” or with a near-full tank of fuel prompting a crash-emergency response unit to be on hand.
The plane landed without incident at 12:48 p.m.
Three passengers in the wobbly row were relocated to other seats, according to American spokeswoman Mary Frances Fagan.
The cause of the incident is under internal review, she added. But airline insiders are blaming the recent subcontracting of routine maintenance and inspection work for the foul-up.
Previous inspections were done in-house by American Airlines staff, the source said, adding that other rows were found not to have been properly secured.
Additional reporting by Philip Messing