UNMANNED `FLIGHT' PILOTLESS 767 JETLINER BREAKS FREE AT LAX.Byline: Dana Bartholomew Staff Writer Blame the screeching jets. Or the overnight airport hospitality. Or more likely a brake not properly set allowing an American Airlines American Airlines Major U.S. airline. American was created through a merger of several smaller U.S. airlines and incorporated in 1934. It continued to buy the routes of other airlines, becoming an international carrier in the 1970s; its routes include South America, the 767 LuxuryLiner on Wednesday rolled down an LAX tarmac - unmanned. The 150-ton plane escaped its mooring MOORING, mar. law. The act of arriving of a ship or vessel at a particular port, and there being anchored or otherwise fastened to the shore. 2. Policies of insurance frequently contain a provision that the ship is insured from one place to another, "and till about 8:30 a.m., rolled 60 feet, severed a telephone line, nosed through a chain-link fence over a public road and nearly broke power lines. ``It could have (hit a car), it ran into the street,'' said Nancy Castles, spokeswoman for Los Angeles International Airport “LAX” redirects here. For other uses, see LAX (disambiguation). “KLAX” redirects here. For other uses, see KLAX (disambiguation). Los Angeles International Airport (IATA: LAX, ICAO: KLAX, FAA LID: LAX . ``I've been here seven years and this is the first time I've heard of a plane roll through a fence ... unmanned.'' The plane, parked overnight next to an American Airlines maintenance hangar on what appeared to be level ground, had been scheduled for a look-over by airline mechanics prior to its noontime noon·time n. See noon. flight. But something caused the giant jetliner to take off on its own accord. Neither Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. airport, fire department or airplane manufacturer officials had ever heard of a runaway plane. ``Did they start chasing it down the runway?'' asked Debbie Heathers, Boeing spokeswoman for commercial 767s, laughing from her Seattle office. Sixty feet, she said, ``that's a long way.'' ``It's a very sweet aircraft; it's very comfortable,'' said Heathers. ``I think they have personalities - but I don't think they have minds of their own.' ``It's a unique incident,'' said Jim Wells, spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD), also known as the Los Angeles City Fire Department to distinguish it from the Los Angeles County Fire Department. It is the agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services for the city of Los Angeles. . ``I can't ever recall a plane rolling unguarded on airport property.'' When it rolled to a stop, the airliner's nose hung 15 feet over World Way West, a public road that cuts through LAX and is used mostly by employees and airline service trucks. A portable stairwell stair·well n. A vertical shaft around which a staircase has been built. stairwell Noun a vertical shaft in a building that contains a staircase Noun 1. was dragged more than 25 feet, scratching one of two plane engines. A fence was crushed. A telephone line was down. Power lines stretched over its fuselage but didn't break. ``Damage to the aircraft was not immediately known,'' American Airlines said in a statement from its office in Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas, 18th-largest city in the United States[1], and voted one of "America’s Most Livable Communities. . ``An investigation is under way.'' The Federal Aviation Administration Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), component of the U.S. Department of Transportation that sets standards for the air-worthiness of all civilian aircraft, inspects and licenses them, and regulates civilian and military air traffic through its air traffic control must ensure that the plane is safe before its next takeoff. The FAA did not respond to a request for comment. Two hours after the mishap, the plane was towed into a hangar for inspection. Power was cut to nearby hangers and streetlights for 20 minutes in order to free the plane from power lines. Later in the day, Los Angeles World Airports Los Angeles World Airports or LAWA is the airport oversight and operations department for the city of Los Angeles, California. This department owns and operates Los Angeles International Airport, LA/Ontario International Airport, Palmdale Regional Airport, and Van officials evacuated some 1,500 passengers for two hours from the top floor of the Tom Bradley International Terminal while police inspected an unidentified bag. Nine international flights were delayed, airport officials said. CAPTION(S): 2 photos, map Photo: (1 -- color) A jetliner sits with its nose extending over a roadway at LAX after inexplicably rolling away from a maintenance area. (2) Workers lift power lines off an American Airlines jetliner that rolled away from a maintenance area at LAX. The pilotless plane traveled 60 feet before coming to rest over World Way West. David Sprague/Staff Photographer Map: American Airlines 767 rolled 45 feet over World Way West |
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