Critical Lapses in Federal Aviation Administration¿s Safety Oversight of Airlines: Abuses of Regulatory ¿Partnership¿ Programs¿

Download or read book Critical Lapses in Federal Aviation Administration¿s Safety Oversight of Airlines: Abuses of Regulatory ¿Partnership¿ Programs¿ written by James Oberstar and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2009-12 with total page 744 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hearing to review the results of an oversight investigation. Two FAA Aviation Safety Inspectors have provided evidence raising serious questions of conduct violating the Fed. Aviation Reg¿s. (FARs) in the inspection and maint. program of Southwest Airlines (SWA). FAA employees have engaged in conduct, ¿which constitutes a violation of Fed. law, rule or reg¿n., gross mismgt., an abuse of authority and a substantial damage to public safety.¿ The Maint. Inspector for SWA knowingly allowed the airline to operate in March 2007 (and possibly beyond), and well after the inspection deadlines on a mandatory FAA Airworthiness Directive. There may be a pattern of regulatory abuse and that these regulatory lapses may be more widespread. Illustrations.