The Federal Aviation Administration says it will take a closer look at inspection procedures at all airlines operating in the U.S., to ensure they conform to FAA regulations.
The move follows the revelation earlier this month that Southwest Airlines missed some mandated inspections, continuing to fly planes in violation of FAA rules. The agency has proposed a record $10 million fine against Southwest.
Acting FAA Administrator Robert Sturgell issued a statement, saying the agency is simply taking a precautionary step.
"While the data tell us flying is safer than ever, prudence dictates we take this additional precaution and conduct a special emphasis review," Strugell said.
Concerns about the safety of U.S. airlines' maintenance efforts are nothing new. In 2005, the Transportation Department's Inspector General issued a report that found the FAA needs to be more aggressive about policing critical airline maintenance work performed by noncertified shops.
Cost-squeezed airlines are increasingly farming out more and more aircraft maintenance to independent contractors -- many of them in foreign countries -- that are not FAA-certified, the report found.
The practice has already been blamed for one fatal accident -- the January 2003 crash of a US Airways flight in Charlotte, N.C. Investigators said the non-certified mechanics who worked on the plane the day before the crash incorrectly adjusted a flight-control device that contributed to the accident, which killed all 21 people on board.
Paperwork first
The latest probe -- typical of anything involving the federal government -- will begin by inspecting paperwork, not the planes themselves.
FAA officials will go over the airlines' maintenance records. If warranted, inspectors will then ask to see specific aircraft. The agency said it hopes to have the initial part of the inspection completed before the end of March.
Southwest reportedly flew nearly 60,000 flights without the required inspections, which are conducted on a routine basis to look for tiny cracks in the fuselage of the aircraft. Even after the FAA learned the inspections had been missed, Southwest reportedly failed to ground the planes.
After carrying out an internal review, Southwest placed three employees on "administrative leave" and grounded several dozen planes in its fleet. It also said it was reviewing its inspection and safety practices.
Consumer angst
At least one consumer activist is calling for a boycott of Southwest and a federal investigation of the Southwest incident.
The persons that should be flying Southwest at this point, should be only those referred by Doctor Kevorkian," said John J. Tormey III, an attorney and founder of a Rockland County, N.Y. group that opposes further development of airline traffic in the outlying New York suburb.
"Although the depraved Southwest spin-machine audaciously assures us Southwests six (6) cracked-fuselage aircraft were 'never a safety problem,' Southwest should tell that to the victims of the 1988 Aloha Airlines disaster," Tormey said.
In that incident, metal fatigue on an aging Boeing 737 caused 18 feet of fuselage to be ripped off the plane. A flight attendant was swept out of the plane and killed and several passengers and crew members were injured.
