It now seems that the Federal Aviation Administration has just recently hit the well known airline American Airlines with a record penalty of $24.2 million over maintenance lapses that caused thousands of canceled flights back in 2008. The agency said on Thursday that American Airlines failed to take the right steps to prevent chafing of electrical wires in the wheel wells of the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 series of jets.

The Federal Aviation Administration went on to say that the wiring could have led to fires and even fuel tank explosions. Thus, the airline put many lives at risk every time they flew a plane with this problem unfixed.

American Airlines vowed to challenge the proposed penalty. The airline routinely challenges Federal Aviation Administration penalties or negotiate to reduce them. Thus, it is quite possible that American Airlines could have the penalty dropped or at least reduced before they actually pay it.

According to reports, these events happened more than two years ago. A spokesperson for American Airlines said that the group feels that this action is unwarranted. The company is confident that they have a very strong case and the facts will be heard in court.

American officials have said that this dispute is over a minor matter of leaving too much space between clips that hold bundles of wires together. The American Airlines spokesperson went on to say that passenger safety was never threatened due to this problem.

A large safety penalty would just add to American Airlines’ financial and image problems. American Airlines was the only United States-based airline company to lose money in the second quarter.