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Posted by United Press International on February 2, 2010, 9:04 am
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WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- At least 65,000 U.S. airline
flights shouldn't have occurred during the last six years because
the planes were maintained improperly, a USA Today survey said.
The six-month investigation found that below-standard
repairs, mechanics who were unqualified and slack oversight by
airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration weren't unusual,
the newspaper reported Tuesday.
The probe included an analysis of government fines against
airlines for maintenance violations and penalty letters sent to
airlines obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests.
"Many repairs are not being done or done properly, and too
many flights are leaving the ground in what the FAA calls
'unairworthy,' or unsafe, condition," John Goglia, a former airline
mechanic and National Transportation Safety Board member from 1995
to 2004, told USA Today.
Airlines contract about 70 percent of their maintenance work
repair shops in the United States and abroad, where mistakes could
be made by untrained and poorly equipped personnel, the
Transportation Department's inspector general said.
The FAA levied $28.2 million in fines and proposed fines
against 25 U.S. airlines for maintenance violations in the past six
years, records indicated. During that time frame, there were 63.8
million flights.
The FAA told USA Today it "sets an exceptionally high bar"
for the required safety level for airlines, saying the fines
indicate problems were detected and corrected. The airline industry
also said its planes are safe and points to millions of
incident-free flights.
The airlines "regard safety as their highest
responsibility," and "their maintenance programs reflect that
commitment to safety," said Elizabeth Merida, a spokeswoman for the
Air Transport Association, which represents larger U.S. airlines.
The organization said its members haven't had a fatal accident
because of a maintenance issue since since Jan. 1, 2000.
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