An American Airlines plane overshot the runway while landing at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport over the weekend.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said a braking malfunction caused the aircraft to overrun its landing after descending into the metroplex at approximately 7:41 p.m. on February 10, according to WFAA. Fortunately, American Airlines said that none of the 99 passengers or six crew members were injured.
The latest incident comes amid frequent headlines concerning airline safety. Earlier this month, The Dallas Express reported that a Boeing factory employee identified two holes that were not drilled to specification on Boeing 737 Max jets. Up to 50 additional improperly drilled holes were subsequently found.
This followed last month’s news that Boeing withdrew a safety exemption needed to certify its latest Max aircraft. Boeing made the move because of growing scrutiny of the manufacturer after a Max aircraft’s door blew out midair. The plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Portland.
The latest incident at DFW Airport involved a Boeing 737-800 manufactured in 2009. For its part, American Airlines said it is fully cooperating with an FAA investigation into the matter.
The news comes in the wake of an announcement earlier this month that American Airlines plans to cut hundreds of jobs in North Texas. The carrier expects to slash 656 positions or roughly 8% of its workforce. Nearly half of those cuts will be in Dallas-Fort Worth.
While the broad market, represented by the S&P 500, has appreciated over 21% during the past year, Boeing has lost over 3% of its value, and American Airlines is down over 10%.
Critics have seized on recent aircraft-related failures to highlight the airline industry’s misalignment of priorities. Retired Air Force pilot Dale Stark has been among those to point to airlines hiring based on diversity rather than merit.
“It gets worse: EVERY MAJOR AIRLINE is prioritizing DEI over competency. They openly say flight crews are ‘too white and too male.’ The woke mind virus will destroy Western civilization if it isn’t stopped,” Stark posted on X.
American Airlines claims that “Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) are foundational to the American Airlines culture and are embedded into the fabric of who we are as a company.” Boeing maintains a webpage dedicated to DEI where the company remarks that it has been ranked as a top 50 company for diversity, stating its goal to increase black employment by 20% by 2025.
Note: This article was updated on February 13, 2024, at 5:47 p.m. to include additional context.