PILOTS REFUSE TO FLY AMERICAN EAGLE ATR-72S

Over the weekend, about a dozen American Eagle pilots refused to fly ATR-72 turbo prop jets -- the model that crashed in Indiana a month ago -- believing that they are unsafe in cold, rainy weather, according to a report today in the Chicago Tribune. The management of American Eagle said a number of Sunday's flights had been cancelled. Meanwhile, the Association of Flight Attendants made public a letter sent last week to American Eagle expressing its members' safety concerns surrounding the planes. The flight attendants requested the airline ground the planes during icy weather until a federal review is complete. The Federal Aviation Administration has issued special safety guidelines for the ATR-72 banning the use of the autopilots during icing conditions.