An American Airlines flight bound for Miami was delayed Thursday night due to missing springs in the pilot's seat, the pilot announced on the plane.
Passengers on board flight No. 469 at Philadelphia International Airport were notified about the delay at around 7 p.m. ET. The plane was scheduled to depart from Gate A3 at 6:40 p.m. ET, but left shortly before 8 p.m. ET instead.
The pilot told passengers that one spring was located in the maintenance supply and that a search for another was under way.
"What we're doing about the second spring is we're starting a search around the airport to try and find another spring," he said.
Agitated passengers
Megan McNally, a passenger on the plane, told NBC 6 South Florida that people on the plane were agitated.
"They told us that they don't have any planes and that they wouldn't be able to put us on another one, so it would be on us to figure out what to do," she said.
American Airlines issued a statement Thursday about recent seat issues after four flights, two of which were Miami-bound, were affected by loose seats.
“Working with the FAA, American Airlines is taking additional steps to prevent seats from becoming dislodged on some of our Boeing 757 aircraft. After further analysis by our engineering team, the company is taking additional preventative steps to enhance the locking mechanism features used to secure the seats to the aircraft floor," the statement read.
It further stated that work to ensure the function of seat lock plungers will be completed after the aircraft land at their destination, and that select flights may be delayed or cancelled. All work is expected to be completed by Oct. 6.
More on this story from NBCMiami.com
Series of incidents
The airline said it is inspecting dozens of aircraft after a series of incidents of seats becoming loose during flights.
Another American Airlines flight headed to Miami on Monday was forced to return to Kennedy Airport after seats on the plane became loose.
On Saturday, Boston-to-Miami flight 685 made an emergency landing at Kennedy Airport when a row of seats became loose.
"We apologize to our customers for any inconvenience this may cause with their travel plans. The safety of our customers and people as well as the reliability of our fleet, is always of utmost priority to American," the statement said.
Rodrigo Perreira, who is from Bolivia, said he will vacation in Miami again but will do one thing differently.
"This will be the last time I fly with American," he said.
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