Jetliner Catches Fire At Sanford Airport - Orlando News Story - WKMG Orlando

Gotta be a record. Isn't this like 3 this year?

Actually that's #4 in the past 12 months. There goes Allegiant's hopes for ETOPS certification any time in the next year. Looks like it's time to buy an airline that already has it.

It took Alaska 720 days to get their ETOPS certification. Most of that was maintenance related setup issues. What makes Allegiant think they'll do any better, especially with their maintenance problems over the last 12 months.

Any of this reminiscent of a blast from the past know as ValuJet? At the current rate of incidents I give them 12-18 months before they have a fatal accident that results in the deaths of many people. Hopefully the FAA is watching and will take necessary steps to break the accident chain.

Any talk of them getting newer aircraft to replace the MD 80s lately, or is that the only reason they have been profitable? How many engine fires has American had on their MD 80s in the last few years, I seem to remember a few.

Valujet didn't crash due to maintenance FWIW. Not really apples to apples for such a statement.

Should someone say your airline will have a fatal crash in the next 12-18 months?

Agreed, what was the company that loaded the cargo, Sabre Tech? IIRC they were found at fault. The accident just put ValueJet under the microscope and then things began to surface.

Back on topic, didn't Allegiant damn near kill 135 people a week ago rotating off the end of a 6500' runway with a calculated TO distance of something like 6525'?

Actually, it was Valujet's MX contractor Sabretech that put O2 generators in the holds, (with duct taped firing pins) to save a couple bucks. So yes, FWIW, that crash was due to maintenance.

It is this combination of poor maintenance and the lack of oversight from typical 2nd tier airline management that gets people killed.

To be clear... This was a tail pipe fire that occurred during start up and there was no evacuation. The airplane was pulled back into the gate and everyone deplaned.

This had nothing to do with maintenance, or lack thereof as most of you are suggesting.