Federal Lawsuit Accuses Airline Of Shooting The Messenger
A maintenance supervisor for Alaska
Airlines has filed suit against the company, accusing executives of
firing him because he wouldn't lie to the FAA.
Mansour Fadaie also accuses Alaska Airlines of discrimination
and harassment. He says he was denied a promotion because he's a
Muslim and an Iranian immigrant. Fadaie says he was ordered to tell
FAA officials that maintenance crews had carried out tool
inspections when, in reality, they had not.
It's the latest in a series of problems for Alaska Airlines,
related to the January, 2000 crash of Flight 261. The aircraft fell
into the sea after NTSB officials say a worn jackscrew controlling
the jet's angle of attack failed in flight.
Fadaie's complaint says, when FAA inspectors came by the shop as
part of the crash investigation, they asked about some custom tools
made and used by the airline. The FAA had told Alaska Airlines to
ensure the tools met the same specifications used by manufacturers
who make such tools for a living. The suit says the airline
promised to inspect the tools in August, 2000. But, according to
Fadaie, the inspections were never carried out. Fadaie accuses the
airline of not only failing to complete the inspection, but of
asking another supervisor to tell the FAA the job had been done.
Fadaie filed a complaint on the matter in October. He was fired in
May.
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