U.S. Representative Jim Oberstar of Minnesota calls it "the most egregious lapse of safety in 23 years." Lawmakers on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held hearings Thursday to question FAA inspections processes.
"A carrier favorable, cozy relationship" is what Oberstar calls the working relationship between FAA supervisors and Southwest Airlines. 3 inspectors testified in the congressional hearing, telling lawmakers Southwest failed to inspect planes and FAA supervisors allowed them to fly anyway.
"We did and we should not have (flown) and we learned our lesson," Southwest Executive Herb Kelleher told the committee.
One of the whistle blowing FAA inspectors said some of the planes that were in the air with passengers had cracks in the fuselage. "More than one FAA inspector, along with FAA management, have looked the other way for years," FAA safety inspector Bobby Boutris said in testimony. FAA Aviation Safety leader Nicholas Sabatini responded by saying, "We need to accept responsibility for our mistakes and understand why they were made."
The FAA says it's investigating 4 more airlines for various compliance violations, but officials would not name those airlines.
The FAA is now creating a new reporting system requiring top airline managers to sign off on voluntary airline safety reports. Those changes may already be on the way to Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport. KARE 11 obtained a memo from the Department of Transportation Office of the Inspector General recommending "better internal review procedures" between Northwest and FAA officials in the Twin Cities. The FAA agreed with the inspector's findings and report changes will be in place by the end of this September.
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