American Eagle (airline brand)

Bombardier CRJ100

Embraer ERJ135

Launch customer.

Embraer ERJ140

May 8, 1987: , operated by regional airline Executive Airlines, a CASA 212-200, was on a domestically scheduled passenger flight between San Juan, Puerto Rico-Mayaguez, Puerto Rico when it crashed short of Runway 09 while landing at Mayaguez. After impacting, the plane continued through a chain-link fence and a ditch. Of the six occupants onboard (four passengers and two crew), two were killed. The cause of the crash was determined to be improper maintenance in setting the flight idle propeller and engine fuel flow.

American Eagle Flight 5452

February 19, 1988: , a Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner operated by AVAir, was on a regularly scheduled flight between Raleigh-Richmond when it crashed into a reservoir about a mile from Raleigh-Durham International Airport, from where it had departed, in the vicinity of Cary, North Carolina. The aircraft departed during low-ceiling, low-visibility, and night conditions. Analysis of radar data indicated the aircraft was in a 45-degree descending turn. Both crew members and all 10 passengers were killed.^[18]

American Eagle Flight 3378

June 7, 1992: , operated by regional airline Executive Airlines, was on a regular flight between San Juan, Puerto Rico and Mayaguez, Puerto Rico when it lost control and crashed nose-down about 3/4 mile from the Mayaguez, Puerto Rico airport. Both crew and all three passengers were killed. The aircraft involved was a CASA 212-200.^[19]

American Eagle Flight 5456

February 1, 1994: American Eagle Flight 3641, a operated by Simmons Airlines, crash landed at False River Air Park in New Roads, Louisiana, only one minor injury was reported.^[20]

Saab 340

October 31, 1994: , an ATR 72 operated by AMR's regional airline Simmons Airlines, crashed near Roselawn, Indiana. The aircraft inverted, dived, and crashed from a holding pattern at 10,000 feet (3050 m) "after a ridge of ice accreted beyond the deice boots" resulting in an unexpected aileron hinge moment reversal that subsequently resulted in the loss of control. The four crew and 64 passengers were all killed. In the months following the accident, American Eagle redeployed its ATR fleet to Miami and the Caribbean where icing is not an issue. The aircraft manufacturer, ATR, has since improved the anti-ice boots. The American Eagle aircraft were modified with the updated deicing system. All ATR 72s were retired from American Eagle's fleet in 2013.

American Eagle Flight 4184

December 13, 1994: , operated by AMR's regional airline Flagship Airlines,^[21] a Jetstream 31, was on a regularly scheduled Raleigh-Greensboro-Raleigh service when it crashed into a wooded area about four miles southwest of the Raleigh-Durham International Airport in the vicinity of Morrisville, NC. Of the 20 onboard (18 passengers and two crewmembers) 15 were killed while the five survivors received serious injuries. The probable cause of the crash was the pilot not following proper procedure in an engine-failure situation.^[22]

American Eagle Flight 3379

July 9, 1995: American Eagle Flight 4127, an operated by Simmons Airlines, experienced a loss of the rear cabin entry door during its climb after taking off from O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. The cabin door opened shortly after the first officer began to pressurize the cabin; therefore, only a slight pressure differential existed between the cabin pressure and the atmospheric pressure. Lack of damage indicates the door was unlocked/unlatched when it opened. The airplane was one of fifteen aircraft equipped with a new handrail and door handle design which was different from the majority of the ATR 72 fleet. The old handle was pulled down to latch/lock the door and pushed up to unlatch/unlock the door. The direction of motion was reversed, requiring the handle to be pushed up in order to latch/lock the door, and pulled down to unlatch/unlock it. On July 10, 1995, a private citizen discovered the separated door submerged in approximately two feet of water in the Des Plaines River. In response to this incident, ATR developed a new door handle design that reinstated the original motion, where pushing up unlatches/unlocks the door, and pulling down latches/locks it.^[23]

ATR 72

May 8, 1999: American Eagle Flight 4925, a Saab 340B, registered N232AE, crashed on approach to JFK airport after being held in a holding pattern due to the visibility on the ground being below minimums. The flight descended too rapidly, however because the flight crew were , they believed they were descending normally, even though there were cockpit alarms going off telling that they were not, in fact radar data revealed that they were descending at 2,950 ft/min. Later, when the flight was over the runway, the pilot descended and touched down 7,000 feet past the touch down point, and even though they used full brakes and reverse thrust, the plane departed the runway at 75 knots and traveled 248 feet past the threshold before stopping. As a result, there was only 1 serious injury, everyone else was unharmed. The NTSB determined that pilot fatigue was a culprit in the accident.^[24]

sleep deprived

May 9, 2004: American Eagle Flight 5401, an operated by Executive Airlines, crashed in San Juan, Puerto Rico after the captain lost control of the aircraft while landing. Seventeen people were injured, but there were no fatalities.^[25]

ATR 72

January 2006: American Eagle Flight 3008 from to Los Angeles, a Saab 340 operated by American Eagle Airlines, encountered icing at 11,000 feet and regained control only at 6,500 feet, after some 50 seconds' descent. During the incident, in which no one was injured, the autopilot disconnected, the stall alarm/clacker sounded, and the plane rolled sharply left and right, experienced vibration, and pitched down. Manual deice boots were activated and ice could be heard shedding off and striking the fuselage.^[26][27] The NTSB report on this incident referenced three other Saab 340 icing incidents, as well as the Flight 4184 incident referenced above. The three were November 11, 1998, in Eildon Weir, Victoria, Australia; June 28, 2002, in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia; and June 18, 2004, in Albury, New South Wales, Australia.^[28][29]

San Luis Obispo

February 15, 2017: American Eagle Flight 5320 from to Gulfport–Biloxi International Airport struck a deer while taking off from runway 36C. The CRJ-700 was forced to turn around and abort the flight. The plane could be seen trailing a vapor stream from the right-wing as it circled back to land. Officials said there was a fuel leak, and crews sprayed the plane with foam. There were no injuries.

Charlotte Douglas International Airport

November 11, 2019: American Eagle Flight 4125 from Greensboro, North Carolina, to Chicago O’ Hare International Airport, an operated by Envoy Air, slid off the runway while landing in icy conditions. All 38 passengers and three crew were uninjured.

Embraer ERJ-145

American Airlines fleet