American flights diverted because of loose seats

American Airlines is re-inspecting eight of its Boeing 757s after two flights had to make emergency landings because passenger seats came loose.

American spokeswoman Andrea Huguely said Monday night that there "could be a possible issue with a certain model of seats and how they fit into the tracking used to secure the seats."

American Airlines Flight 685 from Boston to Miami made an emergency landing at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport Saturday night when passengers discovered the loose seats in row 12 of the Boeing 757, Huguely said.

The passengers were moved to other locations in the cabin. There were a total of 21 first class and 154 economy passengers on the flight, which had departed Boston at 11:49 p.m.

Because the plane was full of fuel, fire and rescue equipment were on hand at JFK, Huguely says."The plane landed normally and safely."

At JFK, authorities decided to transfer all the passengers to a second plane. The flight resumed three hours and 40 minutes later, Huguely says.

The second incident involved Flight 443 from JFK to Miami, another Boeing 757 that was carrying 154 passengers. The plane left JFK at 7:11 a.m. and returned to the gate at 8:18 a.m. after a similar issue was discovered with loose seats.

Passengers were transferred to a second plane that left JFK at 11:04 a.m. and landed in Miami at 2:19 p.m.

There were no injuries in either incident.

On Monday afternoon, the carrier flew engineers and inspectors from its Tulsa maintenance base to New York to evaluate the planes.

Huguely says the seats were installed by American maintenance crews and contractors. But, "the issue does not seem to be tied to any one maintenance facility or one workgroup," she says.

Huguely says the airline has been in contact with the Federal Aviation Administration.

"We are sorry for the inconvenience this delay may have caused our passengers," she says.