FAA again looking into seat issue on American jet

American Airlines faces new FAA scrutiny over installation of seats on 1 of its planes

DALLAS (AP) -- American Airlines is facing a new investigation by federal officials over how seats were installed on one of its planes.

The Federal Aviation Administration said Friday that its inquiry centered on an American Boeing 757 jet, and that the case was unrelated to incidents last year. The FAA declined to comment further, citing an ongoing investigation.

The New York Post reported this week that an American Airlines maintenance crew in New York discovered seats that were about 2 inches out of line and could have prevented emergency doors from opening properly.

American Airlines spokeswoman Andrea Huguely disputed the account, saying that the seats did not block the exit.

In October, AMR Corp.'s American grounded 48 planes and installed additional locking devices to the seat legs on 49 others to keep the seats in place. The FAA recommended that other airlines examine certain seats made by Weber Aircraft LLC to make sure they were installed correctly.