WASHINGTON -- Inspectors at the Federal Aviation Administration warned superiors about problems with safety checks at Southwest Airlines, a powerful congressman said yesterday. But for nearly three years, he said, their concerns were ignored.
Rep. James L. Oberstar, chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, blasted the federal aviation watchdog for "complacency" that he said "has likely set in at the highest levels."
The Minnesota Democrat said a committee investigation revealed "a pattern of regulatory abuse and widespread regulatory lapses" that allowed Southwest to continue flying aircraft that were past due for required safety checks so the airline "could conveniently schedule them for inspection without disrupting their commercial schedule."
"That is not acceptable," Oberstar said, and warned similar problems might be found at other airlines.
The committee is planning a hearing next month to take testimony from Southwest, the FAA and the two inspectors who Oberstar says tried to alert higher-ups of problems with the Dallas-based carrier's system for monitoring compliance with the FAA's "airworthiness directives."
The FAA announced this week that it would seek a record $10.2 million civil penalty from Southwest for flying 46 of its Boeing 737 aircraft for more than a week last year after reporting they were overdue for mandatory fuselage inspections.
Oberstar said the FAA action was prompted by his committee's investigation. He said he expected additional sanctions against Southwest for operating 70 more aircraft that were overdue for inspection of rudder control systems.
In a statement, Southwest said yesterday that it had always been "100 percent compliant" with FAA rudder requirements. What Oberstar appeared to be referring to, the carrier said, was a task required by Boeing Co. that involves the Standby Rudder Power Control Unit.
"The Standby Rudder PCU is redundant; meaning, it is not powered on the vast majority of flights," the company said. "To date, Southwest has performed the PCU check at issue over 200 times with zero failures."
Fuselage cracks
The FAA requires airlines to put older airplanes through rigorous inspections at specified intervals to search for microscopic fuselage cracks. The agency said Thursday that Southwest operated nearly 60,000 flights in 2006 and 2007 using 46 aircraft that it failed to check.
