Airtran safety record?

[Memphis guy]

My family and I are booked on AIrtran in a few weeks, mem-Fll. Should this article cause me concern or is the media just being too harsh on this airline? Thank You!

http://www.airsafetyonline.com/indepth/airtran956/

 

[DCitrus9]

This is a very slanted view of AirTran by this media source. This was a serious situation that was handled well by the crew. This NTSB spokesman was severely out of line in his unsubstantiated comments and was reprimanded. Furthermore, the claim that there were similarities to a ValuJet crash are ratings propaganda and untrue.
This quote humors me: "They walked out and jumped twelve feet off the edge of the jet’s left wing into the arms of other passengers." That is interesting since the wingtip is only six feet high, and if they had gone off the back of the wing like they're supposed to it would only be about three feet.
Bottom line is it is a very safe airline, and most likely you'll be flying on a new 717 anyway.

 

[mckpickle]

what a bunch of crap. dont worry about it.

On a side note, does anyone know if Air Tran/Value jet, ever ran 737's. I noticed in the report that it listed several 737's.

 

[Fly-By-Cable]

You can find similar incident at any carrier.
here's just an example:

http://news.airwise.com/stories/99/09/937737450.html

Unfortunatelly AirTran doesn't have the media control that majors have.

 

[Eagleflip]

Every carrier will have a few "close calls." By all accounts, the crew did a superb job dealing with the emergency and getting the aircraft on the ground.

AirTran's safety record is excellent--just be careful when you drive to the airport.

'Nuff said...

 

[Ty Webb]

Holy Cow!

Talk about a "hatchet job"! If I were a non-pilot, I'd probably be tempted to believe that nonsense, too! I'd be interested in knowing what this person's motivation was for writing a piece like that.

The fact is, AirTran has an excellent safety rating, and the stuff in that "report" was largely either taken out of context or distorted beyond belief.

Suddenly, a wing that an average man has to duck to walk under is now "12 feet high" and a stuck microphone, an ill flight attendant or an airplane parked at the gate that is dented by a catering truck are suddenly "near disasters"! Give me a break. When you have over 120,000 flights a year, things like that do happen, but they happen at all airlines, and the record shows that they are handled succesfully.

Somehow, they managed to omit that Airtran has won the FAA's Diamond award the last few years for maintenance, the aging DC9's will all be gone by the end of the coming year, the training is top notch, and the B717's cargo holds are ALL equipped with smoke detection and extinguishing capability.

Sheesh!!!!

 

[flywest]

737s

It looks like AirTran did have the above mentioned 737s at some point in time. I thought they looked pretty good too! I'm pretty sure they are retired now.

http://www.airliners.net/open.file?...D=MTk2&NEb25uZWxs=MjAwMi0wNy0yNw==&static=yes

Regards,
FlyWest

 

[mckpickle]

737's

thats right I remeber them now!!!!!!!!!!! been awhile since i've seen them. Guess I'm a visual memory guy.

 

[crosscut]

My family and I are booked on AIrtran in a few weeks, mem-Fll. Should this article cause me concern or is the media just being too harsh on this airline? Thank You!

http://www.airsafetyonline.com/indepth/airtran956/

Gotta love the last paragraph, "...One top ranking aviation official recently noted that the FAA could not ground AirTran at the present time. The reason: “It’s the holiday travel season.”

This official must have sounded something like, “Folks, on behalf of the FAA…, this outfit is clearly and inheritantly dangerous and has already been convicted of wrongdoings…but because it is, after all, a Holiday season with thousands and thousands of good people such as yourself scheduled to travel on this airline, we can’t justify shutting it down until after Christmas. You all have a safe holiday season.” BALONEY!

This last paragraph is a strong verdict and if it were a legitimate claim, there would have been a name and a title of this official associated with this statement.

Memphis guy, if this were true and there were any doubt in anyone’s mind as to the safety of this airline, in today’s litigious society NO holiday would stand in the way of shutting it down in a heartbeat & in the name of safety & regardless of the time of the year.

Memphis, name one major airline (excl SWA) that has NOT had a fatal crash. As the answer is NONE, is one to assume they’re all unsafe? W/o getting in depth: some businesses enjoy more (or less) media attention depending on 1) the political influence this business may (or may not) have; 2) the severity of the event; and 3) how much of a media darling (or disgrace) this business may be.

If yours is a sincere concern, rest assured you are in good hands and enjoy the trip.

 

[larry]

Citrus

So was Valuejet formally Air Florida that crashed in the Potomic in 1982? I assumed thats where the call sign citrus came from.

 

[sabreliner]

Umm...no.

The "Citrus" call sign was inherited when Valujet bought AirTran and took on the AirTran name. AirTran got citrus from being based out of Florida as far as I know. I know of no association between the old Air Florida and the current AirTran. Someone please correct me if I am wrong.

As a side note, ValueJet's old callsign was "Critter." I always loved that one, and I wish they would go back to using it. Citrus seems kinda boring.

 

[boxcar]

Maybe I overlooked it, but I found nothing in the linked article's comparison between Air Tran and Midwest Express about Midwest Express's accident (1984, I think). That accident killed everyone on board and was attributed to improper pilot action following an engine failure. The FAA POI was removed because of ineffective oversight of training.

 

[SDF2BUF2MCO]

Cursed Media

Seems like the pimps in the media just won't let go of Airtran/ValuJet.
On another sad note, channel 9, the local ABC affiiliate (I think), in Orlando will be running a special segment on drunk airline pilots. The commercial for this "news" piece is made in pimp heaven. Wish they'd do a special on drunk media people and politicians instead!

 

[crosscut]

Re: Citrus

So was Valuejet formally Air Florida that crashed in the Potomic in 1982? I assumed thats where the call sign citrus came from.

Larry,

a) Air Florida didn’t have “Citrus” as a call sign, they used “Palm.” It was “Palm 90,” NOT “Citrus” that crashed. Two different companies. About the only association they two have had is that both are (were) based out of Florida. Air Florida – out of Miami, AirTran – out of Orlando.

b) AirTran did not even exist in 1982.

 

[crosscut]

Re: Citrus

So was Valuejet formally Air Florida that crashed in the Potomic in 1982? I assumed thats where the call sign citrus came from.

Also, IF there was any connection between the two, the author of article referenced at the top would have been all over it. AND, this accident would have also been mentioned in the history of the airline’s incidents table (within the same article).

Larry, your post was insincere. IF you’re computer-savvy enough to post your message, you ought to be able to do your own research (in less than 10 key strokes) and have all your questions answered much more expeditiously. Instead of, “one is Air Florida, the other’s Citrus,…..and because citrus grows in Florida, the two must be associated.” What a moron….I am to bite.

 

[trainerjet]

What a ridiculous story, and an even more ridiculous post that started this thread. Like the other have said, every airline has incidents, (including Southwest....remember BUR). In this case, the AirTran crew did a first-rate, professional job and should be commended.

I wonder about your true motive in posting??

 

[TurboS7]

You want to see what unsafe is like go to Siberia. Fly on those airlines a few legs then come back here. Amazing though with all the insanity that you see there not many airplanes crash and hurt people. Airtran is more than safe, they are fantastic, the new 717's are great airplanes. Enjoy your trip. The real challenge will be dealing with the TSA.

 

[Citrusflyer]

A couple of things made me wonder about this whole thread. I went to the website that the orig. poster referred to, and found more than a few oddities.

First Airtran was the only airline treated as a "dual airline", meaning it was listed as "Airtran/Vaulejet". I didn't see any reference to "Delta/Western" or "Southwest/Morris Air", or any number of other possibilities. I'm sure if you combined the safety records of an airline along with everyone it purchsed or merged with along the way things would look a little different.

Second although "Airtran/Valuejet" only had one crash coupled with a loss of life it got an "F" for safety. (And there was no mention that it was the only crash in history in which a maintenance subcontractor was found guilty of murder in relation to that crash). Not to pick on the big guys, but American and United both listed 9 similar crashes but received "A's" for safety. Keeping in mind that they had some sort of formula of flights vs crashes (and I know the big guys fly a lot more than we do) one would still think coming up with an "A" for nine crashes (or even and "F" for one) would not pass the WTF test.

In the interest of keeping it short I had one other observation. Why would a person who already "booked" tickets for himself and his family find a realtively obscure pilot message board to post his sudden concerns for safety? (Not that I don't enjoy this board tremendously, as do most of you, but lets face it' outside a bunch of pilots who reads this board enough to think to post a question like that?). Memphis guy registered and posted on the same day. If you are truly concerned about safety, don't be, I assure you we operate as safely as anyone else out there. If you have other motives why don't you just post them and be done with it.

Just to clarify, I do work for Airtran, but I never worked for the old Airtran or for Valuejet. It's just my two cents worth.

 

[Fly-By-Cable]

Amen, brother!

just a correction to sabreliner's post...Citrus call sign started after merger. Air Tran's old callsign was Menity.

 

[Jetsnake]

Maybe I overlooked it, but I found nothing in the linked article's comparison between Air Tran and Midwest Express about Midwest Express's accident (1984, I think). That accident killed everyone on board and was attributed to improper pilot action following an engine failure. The FAA POI was removed because of ineffective oversight of training.

In this Midwest Express accident, both pilots were typed
by the same POI. After further investigation, it was revealed
that the POI wasn't even typed in the DC-9. She, yes SHE,
lost her status as there POI and future 121 POI' s position.
But she never lost her job at the MKE(Milwaukee) FSDO.
She still works there conducting 135 and 91 check rides.
Where's the justice!

And by the way, the DC-9 that crashed in MKE that day had
dual engine failures. The first engine failure was the right one.
This due in part to a compressor assembly fatigue, this happened
at 450'. The Left engine had a compressor stall after the aircraft
entered a stall in a unusual attitude.

The ultimate cause was:

Improper use of flight controls by PIC.
Emergency procedure. Improper
Stall, inadvertant by PIC.

No where, I mean NO WHERE.
Is there any mention of there POI...
Or that she is still working for the FAA...

Jetsnake