Whistleblower: Airlines Influence FAA Inspections

BusinessWeek:

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Airline Safety: A Whistleblower's Tale
In Depth January 30, 2008, 6:11PM EST

A new report spotlights how FAA inspectors must battle not only carriers but their own agency, too

by Stanley Holmes

After mechanics at Northwest Airlines went out on strike on Aug. 20, 2005, Federal Aviation Administration safety inspector Mark Lund began to see troubling signs. One replacement mechanic didn't know how to test an engine. Another couldn't close a cabin door. Many did not seem properly trained. In Lund's view, their inexperience resulted in dangerous mistakes. One DC-10, for example, had a broken lavatory duct that allowed human waste to spill onto vital navigation equipment. The leak developed during a flight from Amsterdam to Minneapolis. Northwest (NWA) planned to let the plane continue on to Honolulu with the perilous and putrid problem unfixed—until one of Lund's fellow safety inspectors in Minneapolis intervened. Read more...

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