(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-03-27 11:38

WASHINGTON -- The American Airlines, the nation's biggest airline, grounded nearly 300 of its planes Wednesday to conduct inspections to make sure they are safe.

As a result, thousands of the airline's passengers are looking for alternate transportation, according to wire and TV reports.

In fact, American Airlines canceled every flight scheduled on its Boeing MD-80 aircraft -- so inspectors can make sure the planes are safe to fly.

The airline said in a statement: "We are re-inspecting the MD-80s to make sure the wiring is installed and secured exactly according to the directive."

The directive is a legally enforceable rule from the Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA, requiring air carriers to correct unsafe conditions.

Earlier this month, Southwest Airlines found itself with more than 40 planes on the ground after failing to verify it had correctly inspected its Boeing 737s.

The inspections American Airlines must perform can take several hours for each plane -- but the airline says some have already been completed and the planes will return to service throughout the day.