The reputations of Southwest Airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as regards aircraft maintenance and government oversight of the successful air carrier, respectively, have been tarnished as accusations are publicly aired much to the unhappiness of senior Bush administration officials and the airline’s top brass.
The controversy involving Southwest’s aircraft maintenance program was fueled by a congressional investigation, which revealed potential safety problems at Southwest and possible lapses at other U.S. carriers.
A week ago, Rep. James Oberstar (D-MN), chairman of the House of Representatives Transportation Committee, told reporters that his panel has heard from government airline safety inspectors who claim their reports about safety violations are routinely not acted upon by superiors at the FAA).
Oberstar’s comments came one day after the FAA proposed a record $10.2 million fine against Southwest for failing over a period of several months in 2006 and 2007 to complete required aircraft safety inspections on 46 older 737s.
The airline voluntarily notified the FAA about the lapse in checks for fuselage cracks, but continued to fly the planes until the work was done — about eight days. Safety officials said the aircraft should have been grounded. Southwest, the largest low-cost domestic air carrier, contends that it had consulted with the FAA and should not be hit with the stuff fine.
For its part, Southwest said “this was never and is not a safety of flight issue.”
In a statement the air carrier stated: “From our inception, Southwest Airlines has maintained a rigorous Culture of Safety–and has maintained that same dedication for more than 37 years. It is and always has been our number one priority to ensure safety.
“We’ve got a 37-year history of very safe operations, one of the safest operations in the world, and we’re safer today than we’ve ever been,” said Southwest CEO Gary Kelly.
“Receipt of the FAA letter of penalty gives us the chance to present the facts which we feel will support our actions taken in March 2007. The FAA penalty is related to one of many routine inspections on our aircraft fleet involving an extremely small area in one of the many overlapping inspections. These inspections were designed to detect early signs of skin cracking.
“Southwest Airlines discovered the missed inspection area, disclosed it to the FAA, and promptly reinspected all potentially affected aircraft in March 2007. The FAA approved our actions and considered the matter closed as of April 2007.
“Boeing has stated its support of Southwest’s aggressive compliance plan. Southwest acted responsibly and the safety of the fleet was not compromised, Boeing said.
“And former NTSB investigator Greg Feith said after a review of the available data and information that it’s apparent that there was no risk to the flying public in March 2007 while Southwest Airlines performed their program to re-inspect the small area of aircraft fuselages identified,” the airline continued.
But Kelly announced on Mar. 11 that the airline had suspended three employees after receiving preliminary results of an internal investigation. The investigation had raised “concerns” about the airline’s maintenance program, Kelly said.
The FAA seeks to fine Southwest for failing to inspect the 46 Boeing 737 airplanes for fuselage fatigue cracking. The air carrier subsequently found that six of the jetliners had fatigue cracks.
“The FAA is taking action against Southwest Airlines for a failing to follow rules that are designed to protect passengers and crew,” said FAA Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety Nicholas A. Sabatini. “We expect the airline industry to fully comply with all FAA directives and take corrective action.”
From June 18, 2006 to March 14, 2007, the FAA alleges that Southwest Airlines operated the 46 Boeing 737 airplanes on 59,791 flights while failing to comply with a September 8, 2004 FAA Airworthiness Directive (AD) that required repetitive inspections of certain fuselage areas to detect fatigue cracking.
The FAA alleges that after Southwest Airlines discovered that it had failed to accomplish the required repetitive inspections, it continued to operate those same 46 airplanes on an additional 1,451 flights.
ADs are issued by the FAA to correct an unsafe condition in an aviation product. In this case, the FAA’s AD mandated repetitive external detailed and eddy-current inspections at intervals of no more than 4,500 flight cycles to detect fatigue cracking in areas of the fuselage skin on some Boeing 737 models.
Oberstar said at a news conference that maintenance shortfalls at Southwest went beyond the 46 Boeing 737s addressed by the FAA. Oberstar said his congressional panel is investigating allegations that Southwest Airlines, with FAA complicity, allowed at least 117 of its aircraft to fly with passengers in violation of Federal Aviation Regulations. He said 47 were overdue required fuselage inspections, and 70 were overdue a mandatory inspection of critical rudder control systems.
“What our investigation found is the most serious lapse in safety I have been aware of at the FAA in the past 23 years. I fear that complacency may have set in at the highest levels of FAA management, reflecting a pendulum swing away from vigorous enforcement of compliance, toward a carrier-favorable, cozy relationship,” charges Oberstar.
“Our investigation uncovered a pattern of regulatory abuse and widespread regulatory lapses, that allowed 117 aircraft to be operated in commercial service despite being out of compliance with airworthiness directives and other mandatory inspections…so that Southwest could conveniently schedule them for inspection without disrupting their commercial schedule,” he added.
Oberstar said 70 Southwest aircraft did not receive rudder inspections and were out of compliance for at least a year. “We fully expect that FAA will address these violations in a separate enforcement action, and our investigation is continuing.”
Stated Oberstar: “For nearly three years prior to disclosure of the violations, FAA inspectors who cooperated with our investigation had been warning FAA management that Southwest had an inconsistent and unreliable system for monitoring compliance with Airworthiness Directives. Both whistleblowers and FAA’s own internal investigation provided compelling evidence that earlier attempts to initiate strong enforcement actions were repeatedly vetoed by the FAA maintenance supervisor. The whistleblowers elevated their concerns to higher levels of FAA management, but the warnings were ignored.”
Added the lawmaker: “FAA needs to clean house, from the top down, and take corrective action. It needs to hire more inspectors, and give them a safety mission.”
Oberstar is concerned that the situation at Southwest is not just an isolated incident, saiying “we have heard concerns expressed about similar situations at other airlines, although we do not have direct evidence of incidents this serious at present. However, our investigation will continue.”
Stated Oberstar: “This shocking lapse at Southwest should send chills through the airline industry and the regulatory offices at FAA.”
Acting FAA Administrator Robert Sturgess said there is no need to “clean house” at the FAA since there is no “cozy” relationship with the air carriers he is charged with regulating.
Stated Sturgess: “The traveling public is counting on us to get it right today, and to keep getting it right tomorrow. Today’s complex aviation system demands a modern regulatory approach that takes into account both enforcement and cooperative elements.
“Later this week, we’ll be meeting with all of our senior safety managers — looking at what went wrong, where we as an agency need to improve, discussing best practices, and finding ways to continually improve our system of safety oversight.
“A word about our inspectors. They are dedicated safety professionals, and they’re tough as nails. As someone who’s been on the receiving end of more than a few check rides, I consider myself an expert on the matter. One thing we all knew was that when it came to the inspectors, there was no wiggle room. You either hit the numbers or you didn’t fly.
“It’s one thing to ask tough questions and demand tougher answers. It’s vital, for example, that we constantly examine and reexamine our safety procedures, protocols, and processes. And develop lessons learned from events like this. But, it is entirely another to call into question the very integrity of our entire aviation system. Safety is serious business, and we’re serious about our business,” the FAA boss added.
U.S. Transportation Secretary May Peters said “these are significant allegations that need to be addressed quickly and thoroughly. We take very seriously any allegation – from within the FAA or outside the agency – that safety may have been compromised.
“I have asked Acting FAA Administrator Sturgell and his entire leadership team to get to the bottom of these allegations and find out if there is any merit to them at all. If any inspector failed in his or her responsibilities to the traveling public, they will be dealt with swiftly and severely. There is simply no margin for error when it comes to the safety of our aviation system,” Peters added.
On Mar. 12, Southwest grounded 44 of its Boeing 737s until it verified that the aircraft had undergone required inspections. It canceled four percent of its flights schedule. The twin-engine jetliners represent about eight percent of Southwest’s fleet,. The planes were grounded after an internal audit raised questions about whether they had undergone additional inspections following a “fix” supplied by Boeing, The airline decided to pull the planes from service until it was known whether they needed further checks, a company spokesman said.