ASA grounds 60 jets over bad inspections

Atlantic Southeast Airlines, a Delta Connection carrier, improperly inspected 40 percent of its fleet —- critical probes that looked for engine cracks —- forcing the carrier to ground 60 jets.

The Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday that ASA self-reported the problem and grounded the planes late Tuesday, so that the planes could be ferried to ASA maintenance facilities to be reinspected.

FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said the engine inspections are required after 4,000 hours of flight and are considered a major safety precaution.

“We don’t know how much these inspections were overflown,” Bergen said. She said the agency has FAA inspectors at ASA maintenance facilities overseeing the reinspections. During the inspections, cameras are inserted inside critical parts of the jet engines to check for cracks, Bergen said.

ASA spokeswoman Kate Modolo said some planes could be grounded until late Thursday or Friday. Only 50-seat Bombardier CRJ200 jets were affected. ASA has 150 planes, according to its Web site. ASA is one of Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines’ biggest contract carriers, accounting for 396 daily departures from Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Delta books passengers on ASA flights and numbers the flights as its own.

Delta moved Wednesday to rebook passengers on ASA flights canceled due to the reinspections.

“With our fleet flexibility we are reaccommodating the majority of the customers impacted by ASA cancellations within a matter of hours,” said Delta spokeswoman Susan Elliott.

Modolo said an internal audit revealed concerns about whether the ASA jets’ engines had been inspected according to the engine manufacturer’s recommendations. The FAA sometimes orders inspections of commercial aircraft when maintenance issues arise, but mass groundings are unusual.

ASA is based in Atlanta but is now owned by Utah-based SkyWest Inc.

Staff writer Mike Morris contributed to this report.