Nightly News   |  October 05, 2012

‘Coking’ accounts for loose seats, airline says

American Airlines says "coking": years of spilled soda, coffee and other detritus, is responsible for gumming up the locking pin that holds the seats to the floor. NBC’s Tom Costello reports.

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>>> now on the update on the problems for american airlines who say they have almost finished up inspections and the work they have done on four boeing 757s, pulled from service last night, temporarily grounded from the fleet after seats came loose on three flights over the past week. abc's tom costello has more.

>> reporter: hi, brian, after cancelling 50 flight, four more today, the airline says it is running normally tonight. and the last of the 757s will be back to work. they claimed that the wear and tear as well as something called cocking kept it from locking into place. as in the soft drink , you know what happens when you spill that on a keyboard? american says that the years of the drink gummed up on the pins, keeping them from locking down. the 757s are at least 15-20 years old. the faa reports no other airlines have had this happen to them and their seats. and the faa is also looking at whether or not the seats were installed incorrectly after they were recently moved by mechanics.

>> hard to believe that the beverages got together and decided to take effect right now. tom costello in our washington bureau, thank you.