http://travel.latimes.com/articles/la-trw-airlines4apr04<snip>
While his supervisor "suppressed" his findings, Boutris said, others at the agency also dampened interest in inspection, looking the other way.
"I am here to report that more than one FAA inspector, along with FAA management, have been looking the other way for years," he told the committee. "No supervisor can do what my supervisor was doing without the support from fellow inspectors, the support of the division management team, who were fully aware of what was going on, and I believe with the support from some people in Washington."
A second inspector, Douglas E. Peters, who worked on the American Airlines account, became emotional as he recounted a threat from a supervisor who came to his office, picked up a framed picture of Peters' family, and warned him to back off.
" 'You have a good job here and your wife has a good job over at the Dallas
. I'd hate to see you jeopardize your and her careers trying to take down a couple of losers,' " Peters said he was told by Bobby Hedlund, the acting manager of FAA's Southwest Certificate Management Office.