Inspectors Say FAA’s Coziness with Airlines Endangers Safety

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/04/04/inspectors-say-faas-coziness-with-airlines-endangers-safety/

by James Parks, Apr 4, 2008

The Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) relationship with the airline industry is endangering passenger safety, even to the point of punishing inspectors who discover violations, according to the union that represents airline safety inspectors.

Tom Brantley, president of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS), told the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing yesterday on FAA oversight of air carriers:

The role of inspector as safety enforcer is becoming increasingly overshadowed, and inspectors are being pressured by FAA management not to pursue enforcement actions. FAA safety inspectors are on the front lines of enforcing aviation safety standards. Yet, on far too many occasions, the FAA has labeled its own safety inspectors as troublemakers for simply reporting violations or allowed airline management to demand the reassignment of an inspector trying to hold a carrier accountable.



Brantley, in a statement, says the FAA has not only promoted an internal culture where safety is given second billing, but it has manipulated enforcement to maintain a close relationship between the agency and the airlines.

Punishing safety inspectors for discovering violations or impeding them from making safety of the system their priority should not be tolerated.

The hearing follows allegations by two whistle-blowers that their bosses at the FAA prevented them from enforcing serious safety concerns at Southwest Airlines. The FAA fined Southwest $10.2 million last month for intentionally flying jets that had not been inspected and acknowledged that its inspectors had not acted properly.

According to testimony by Brantley and retired inspector Richard Andrews:

* Two FAA inspectors overseeing Northwest Airlines recently filed grievances that they were told by managers to alter findings against the airline. One inspector who objected to the order “was admonished.”

* An inspector for United Airlines discovered in March 2007 that the carrier had decided to keep batteries that power Boeing 777 emergency slides for years beyond their approved lifespan. After several meetings to address the “underlying safety risk,” the FAA took no action.

* In 2003, an inspector for Continental Airlines found that more than 4,000 aircraft life vests had been improperly overhauled. FAA management allowed the airline to continue operating with the vests.

* Andrews said he found problems at American Eagle, the regional carrier owned by American Airlines, with the airline’s training and manuals. Enforcement letters he prepared were not immediately sent out.


FULL story at link.

[AlertLurker]

1. But if the oil and financial sectors can self-regulate...