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On June 8, 2006 an American Trans Air airplane at LaGuardia Airport, New York en route to Chicago, Illinois sustained substantial damage when a foreign object struck the tail of the airplane during taxi.  The foreign object happened to be an aluminum diamond plate which was used to cover the area of the taxiway that was receiving maintenance.  The aluminum diamond plate damaged the right horizontal stabilizer.  There were no injuries to the crew members and passengers aboard but this resulted in improper airport maintenance by contract maintenance personnel.

The plate used for maintenance was supposed to have been a much heavier steel plate.  The weight of a steel plate would not have been affected by the jet blast from taxiing airplanes.  Guidance from the Federal Aviation Administration and airport authority was given to the construction company who provided these aluminum diamond plates.

SlipNOT® Metal Safety Flooring offers non-slip steel plates that would give LaGuardia Airport the weight they needed as well as slip resistance for vehicles and employees.  A SlipNOT® steel plate could be a permanent solution to aluminum diamond plates.

National Transportation Safety Board accident database system (ADMS2000), last updated Jan 1, 2010. http://investigativereportingworkshop.org/flying-cheap/incident/20060622X00799/1/