I was on usair flight 1218 yesterday from FLL to DCA and 20 min into the flight pilot came on and said we are returning to FLL. There was a problem with either a guage or the left engine. We landed and were placed on another aircraft. Anybody know what happened. Finally got to DC 4 hours later and then had to do a go around. Captain had quite a day. Crew was wonderful. l
Did you happen to catch a tail number on the broken bird?
- Nevermind I found it.
A/C 449 #1 EGT spiked climbing through 16,000. Pilot returned heavy so overweight landing inspection had to be completed. You finished your trip on a/c 426.
Thanks for the update. When you say the engine spiked, what does that mean?
EGT = exhaust gas temp. Basically, it was getting way too hot.
The post stated “#1 EGT spiked”.
Translation: The exhaust gas temperature on the #1 engine had a sudden, extreme rise which caused the pilot to return the departure airport.
I thought they put you on a DC 4.
Lots of retro paint lately, why not a retro aircraft???
Are you kidding me- have you flown on flown on American lately? They need to retire that Super 80 fleet
Those 80s aren’t “retro”, they’re just old and busted!!!
And their 737-800s that they are replacing them with are the “new hotness”.
Just keeping with the movie quotes here…
And they smell better too.
I took a few AA flights last year where the 737s still had that “new plane smell”. Now it’s gone on the ones I tend to fly on.
Come on, would you rather sit in a seat 17 inches wide, or one that is 18 inches wide? Would you like to have a one in five chance of a middle seat, or one in three? Would you like 33 inch seat pitch, or 31 inch? Would you like to share the overhead bin space with four others, or five others? The better answer to every one of those questions is the MD-80. It is one of the best airplanes on which to be a passenger. It is reliable (despite everyone’s rumors to the contrary), and quiet. I will admit it is not very fuel efficient compared to more modern jets, but it is great in all other respects!
So, we flew back to FLL from DCA on Tuesday the 17th of Aug. UsAir Flight 1715. Flight was uneventful. What are the odds that we were on the same aircraft that had the engine problem? # 449. Played the 3 digit lottery the next day. 
Didn’t win.
After 50+ years of flying I finally flew American, ORD-SAN (last minute, so got an aisle seat in row27) in May. If this aircraft was typical, I won’t fly them again. Padding was minimal. I was numb by the time we landed in San Diego. I used to like 737’s and will try them again, but I could not believe how long this thing was. It was more like being in a 757 than a 737 (in terms of length). Four hours was too long. -Jan near CID