FAA says more airlines missed inspection deadlines

WASHINGTON – Four U.S. airlines are being investigated for failing to comply with federal aviation regulations.

Federal Aviation Administration officials Wednesday said an audit of airline maintenance records found three of the four carriers had missed inspection deadlines. Wiring in the wheel well was one area where carriers failed to comply with “airworthiness directives,” the officials said.

One carrier had failed to submit a required plan and the other three airlines were found to have aircraft overdue for inspections.

While the agency would not name the carriers under investigation, it said penalties could be levied. It will be several months before the probes are complete.

Acting FAA Administrator Robert A. Sturgell said the flying public should feel safe despite a recent string of maintenance concerns and canceled flights involving Southwest Airlines Co., AMR Corp.’s American Airlines, Delta Air Lines Inc. and UAL Corp.’s United Airlines.

He emphasized that his agency’s review of nearly 2,400 airline maintenance records found U.S. carriers were in compliance with federal regulations nearly 99 percent of the time.

Still, the FAA is taking new action both to make it easier for inspectors to raise concerns and to strengthen ethics policies aimed at easing potential conflicts of interest.

The FAA will launch a new reporting system by the end of this month to provide employees an additional way to raise safety concerns they feel are not receiving the necessary attention or response from management, Sturgell said. And by June 30, the agency will start a rule-making process to set a two-year “cooling off” period for former inspectors hired by airlines to match the time that new inspectors hired from industry must wait before they can oversee their former employer.

Meanwhile, United Airlines temporarily grounded dozens of Boeing 777s to test their cargo fire-suppression systems.

United said it canceled more than 30 flights and delayed dozens of others as it carried out work on the long-haul jets after a review of maintenance records showed that a test on a bottle in the fire suppression system hadn’t been performed.

The move affected thousands of passengers around the world, as United’s 777s mostly fly international routes from its major hubs.

Independent airline consultant Robert Mann said that while the issue with the 777s should have been detected beforehand, passengers shouldn’t be worried about the increased maintenance glitches.

“It’s clearly inconvenient for passengers but it’s a matter of the system working as designed,” he said. “Carriers are now being prompted to check their own records and check the facts versus the records, and the FAA is doing the same thing from its end.”