FAA inspector cozy with American Airlines manager ignored safety complaints
An FAA inspector, assigned to monitor safety at American Airlines, failed to act on concerns raised by a pilots union after becoming close friends with an official at the airline.
These were the findings of a report by the Transportation Department’s Inspector General, which was obtained by Bloomberg News.
According to Bloomberg, the FAA inspector had developed a close friendship with American’s manager overseeing a flight-test program. An investigation found their families socialized and they had taken a trip overseas together.
The inspector, who was assigned to the carrier for 28 years and has now retired, didn’t address what was later shown to be a legitimate tip-off about how American Airlines made sure aircraft were safe following maintenance work.
Concerns were raised by American’s pilot union, the Allied Pilots Association, but weren’t dealt with for more than 18 months.
A review found pilot training records at the flight-test program were ‘vague and inconsistent’ and training materials were limited.
American said it immediately cooperated with the report’s recommendations and has begun an internal review and changed the leadership of the program.
It told Bloomberg: "Last week, we notified the FAA that we have taken action to address and implement nearly all of the recommendations made in order to follow best practices and strengthen the safety of the program."
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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