American Airlines grounds fleet of MD-80s

American Airlines grounded its fleet of Boeing MD-80s on Wednesday so crews could reinspect wire bundles to comply with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations. The nation's largest carrier canceled more than 340 flights — or about 14 percent of its scheduled service — according to the latest results from FlightStats.com. The need for the new inspections became known during an audit of American by a joint team of inspectors from the FAA and the Fort Worth-based airline. “Preliminary results of the audit show a high rate of airworthiness-directive compliance,” Alison Duquette, FAA spokesperson in Washington, D.C., told msnbc.com.