American Airlines' largest regional carrier gets FAA warning

A commuter jet was seconds away from landing at a regional airport in Illinois last March when the pilots realized they'd made a potentially fatal mistake: They were aimed at the wrong runway. Had the plane not diverted at the last second, there was a "high probability" the plane would not have had room to stop, an inspector later concluded, which would have been a "potentially catastrophic situation." This close call is one of multiple instances of alleged pilot error included in a FAA warning to Envoy Air, the largest regional carrier for American Airlines. An FAA document detailing the agency's findings dated from January describes "consistent evidence showing potential lack of airmanship," unsafe and poor piloting by multiple Envoy Air flight crews over the past two years. The incidents raise concerns, some experts say, that some regional services -- generally contracted operators or sister companies to the big airlines -- are still not operating at the same safety level of mainline carriers. FAA Administrator Steve Dickson said that the probe is "based on data that we have been able to glean by working with the operator to identify where there might be areas of emerging risk that they need to focus on." He said the goal is to ensure Envoy Air is "not only compliant but operating safely."<br/>Envoy Air is not a household name, but it is owned by American Airlines and its planes connect smaller cities nationwide with American's hubs like Dallas-Fort Worth, Chicago, and Miami. It flies 185 American Eagle-branded aircraft on 1,000 daily flights to over 150 destinations in the United States, Canada and Mexico.<br/>