And They're Working On That Other Two Percent
The results are in following an FAA
audit of US airline compliance with Airworthiness Directives,
announced in April... and the agency says the results are
encouraging.
Acting Administrator Robert Sturgell said Friday FAA inspectors
found an overall compliance rate of 98 percent in more than 5,600
audits of Airworthiness Directives (ADs) at US air carriers. In the
remaining two percent of the audits, the carriers resolved the
issues of noncompliance before the airplanes flew again.
"This audit gives us confidence that, overall, the system is
safe and in almost every instance the airlines are complying with
our safety directives," Sturgell said.
As ANN reported, the agency's reinvigorated
pursuit of airline safety came after two inspectors blew the
whistle on the too-friendly relationship between FAA officials
tasked to oversee maintenance compliance at Southwest Airlines, and
that carrier's management. Minnesota Congressman James Oberstar,
who has spearheaded Congressional hearings on the matter, termed
that relationship "a culture of coziness," which resulted in FAA
inspectors allowing Southwest to skirt mandatory fuselage fatigue
inspections on its older Boeing 737 models.
In March, the FAA hit the Dallas-based low-cost carrier with a
record $10.2 million fine, that
the airline has yet to pay. Inspectors
also found discrepancies with compliance at Delta, United, and
American.
Two FAA employees remain on administrative leave related to the
alleged glad-handing at Southwest, pending the results of
investigations by the DOT Inspector General. A third employee under
investigation opted to retire.
A management official in the Southwest Airlines CMO was
transferred from that office to the Southwest region. A fifth
employee, also a management official, has received a letter of
proposed action.
Alleged noncompliance in the audits fell into five categories:
instances where the air carrier could not show compliance with the
AD; cases where additional records were needed to prove compliance;
cases where the air carrier did the work, but had to apply for an
alternate means of compliance approval; situations where the AD
work was not done, but the airplane was not flying; other minor
discrepancies not involving ADs.
The FAA stressed all noncompliance issues were corrected before
the airplanes flew again, and the FAA is investigating to determine
if enforcement actions are warranted.
"Even with this tremendous level of safety and compliance, we
have work to do," Sturgell added. "We’re focusing on the
language of our directives to make sure they are clear, concise and
unambiguous, and we’re working with industry to approve work
in progress before the compliance date."
Sturgell also gave a progress report on new safety initiatives
announced in April:
- Safety Issues Reporting System — Complete
- Voluntary Disclosure Reporting Program Approvals —
Complete
- Ethics Policy Enhancement — In progress; proposed rule
expected next summer
- Aviation Safety and Analysis Sharing Program expansion —
In progress
- Independent Review Team — Complete; with Secretary Peters
for review
- Airworthiness Directive Review — In progress