et traverse l'Atlantique jusqu'Ã CDG
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- An American Airlines plane flew from Dallas to Paris even though a \"large panel\" fell off the underside as the flight took off, the airline said in a memo to pilots.
Pilots and crew heard a noise and felt vibrations as the plane passed through 10,000 feet, but did not know the cause until they landed in Paris, France, according to the memo, which was obtained by CNN.
\"There was no way this crew could have known this panel had departed,\" the memo says. \"If they had known, they obviously would have returned.\"
American Airlines issued the statement after angry e-mails and photos of the hole left by the missing panel, allegedly from members of the flight crew, began circulating on the Internet and airline industry blogs.
The carrier is not commenting officially on the April 20 incident other than to say it is investigating, spokesman Tim Wagner said. The memo is dated May 7.
The statement defends the pilot's decision to continue the 9½-hour flight, saying there were no warning lights, system abnormalities, further noises or vibrations.
\"The captain decided to continue to Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport believing the noise might have been a cargo container shift,\" the memo said. It says the pilot would have had to dump 100,000 pounds of fuel before returning to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, and that he had options to land before crossing the ocean if there had been further cause for concern.
The memo does not name the pilot of the 767 twin jumbo aircraft.
Les photos à l'arrivée :
http://aviationblog.dallasnews.com/arch ... ssing.html