Southwest flew 'unsafe' airplanes?

[MALSR]

They better fill out an ASAP report. Seriously though, no wonder they are so cheap...they hardly pay for fuel or maintenance.

 

[Airboss]

FAA proposes record $10 mln fine for Southwest Air
By John Crawley 56 minutes ago


U.S. aviation regulators on Thursday proposed to fine Southwest Airlines Co a record $10.2 million for allegedly failing to inspect planes for structural cracks.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said Southwest continued to fly uninspected aircraft even after the carrier notified the agency that it had missed a mandatory deadline to complete the work.
"The FAA is taking action against Southwest Airlines for a failing to follow rules that are designed to protect passengers and crew," said Nicholas Sabatini, the agency's associate administrator for safety.
The FAA said there were no safety incidents related to the missed inspections of Boeing Co 737 aircraft but the allegations and the fine amounted to a startling mark against the airline that has been an industry model for efficient operation for nearly 40 years.
The airline said in a statement late on Wednesday the inspections were routine and redundant. Southwest said it acted promptly and responsibly and that flight safety was never compromised.
Southwest shares fell 49 cents, or nearly 3.8 percent, to $12.50 on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock rose slightly after hours before retreating to its closing price.
Southwest is the biggest U.S. carrier by market value at $9.5 billion.
UNINSPECTED PLANES
Southwest flies only 737 planes and the inspection program was part of an industry-wide FAA initiative to more closely examine structural fatigue in all types of older planes. Most big U.S. airlines are slowly modernizing their fleets.
While commercial jetliners are built to fly for decades, the repetitive fuselage inspections imposed in 2004 are aimed at finding any minor skin cracks or other structural issues that occur with heavy use and usually can be fixed easily.
But the FAA asserted that Southwest operated 46 planes on nearly 60,000 flights while "failing to comply" with the inspection requirement between June 2006 and March 2007.
The carrier continued for eight days to operate the same planes on more than 1,400 additional flights after discovering last March that it missed the inspection deadline, the FAA said. This breach, the FAA said, prompted the heavy fine.
Cracks were found on six planes after the inspections were completed, the FAA said.
Southwest said in a statement that it acted promptly once it discovered the lapse. The carrier also said it consulted Boeing about the missed inspections as well as the continued operation of those aircraft for up to 10-days while the work was completed.
Southwest said Boeing concluded the compliance plan was technically valid. "In Boeing's opinion, the safety of the Southwest fleet was not compromised."
A Boeing official confirmed the consultation.
Southwest said the FAA "approved our actions and considered the matter closed as of April 2007."

FAA ROLE QUESTIONED
Questions were also raised about the FAA's role and whether its oversight was insufficient. Congressional lawmakers want to know why it took so long for the FAA to act and why uninspected planes were not grounded immediately.
The House of Representatives Transportation Committee is investigating and the panel's chairman, Rep. James Oberstar, a Minnesota Democrat, has scheduled a news conference for Friday. A hearing is planned for April.
Sen. Patty Murray, a Washington state Democrat and chairman of the appropriations subcommittee that funds FAA operations, called the safety violations "grotesque" and an "inexcusable lapse."
Murray was critical of the airline but also promised to hold FAA officials responsible.
"We need to ask serious questions as to why it took the FAA so long to discover them," she said.
The FAA said is sending a team of inspectors -- those that do not normally work closely with Southwest at its base in Dallas -- to review the maintenance program. Airlines overall are complying with the timelines for completing structural inspections, the agency said.
Southwest can appeal the proposed fine, which would be the largest ever against an airline if enforced. The largest to date is a $9.5 million penalty against Eastern Airlines in the 1980s. (Reporting by John Crawley; editing by Carol Bishopric and Braden Reddall)

 

[CX880]

a missed inspection doesn't necessarily mean it is "unsafe"

Not really... tell that to China Airlines. This is a definite blow for Southwest, usually we try not to fly the regionals now we have to worry about SW? What's next? I think I'll jump on AA next time.

 

[acaTerry]

Name one US airline that doesn't cut corners, "fudge" things, etc. So trusting....so innocent....

 

[Poahi]

...what kind of buffoonery is going on in this industry.
... How about 250-750 hr pilots
... about Comai........
$49.00 tickets .
... This industry is full of mistakes .
That's not bad.
... but every carrier makes mistakes........some accidental and some intentional.
... The FEDS, the FAA, SWA, and Boeing were all in on this one, ...

Deny, defend and demagogue. SWA needs a strong response to this.

 

[ifly4food]

Name one US airline that doesn't cut corners, "fudge" things, etc. So trusting....so innocent....

Exactly. Anyone who has been in this industry for a while knows they all do it. Just few get caught. SWA got caught with their hand in the cookie jar this time.

Really nothing to see here.

 

[chimichanga]

... they all do it. Just few get caught. SWA got caught with their hand in the cookie jar this time.

No! Not our beloved Southwest! They're perfect, the people that fly for them walk on water, and they can do no wrong... they're the best airline EVER!

 

[Dude]

Chimichanga,

On behalf of our beloved airline I would like to thank you for that honest and enlightened post.

By the way, Gary Kelly has already responded and the FAA is going to look like......well, the FAA.

 

[Poahi]

Here's the response:

Southwest Airlines maintains 37-year safety record

DALLAS, March 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Southwest Airlines CEO Gary
Kelly appeared on CNN's "This Morning" to address the penalty proposed by the
FAA for what it calls "failed compliance" of certain FAA directives that
Southwest rectified in April 2007. The directives involved one of many
routine, redundant, and overlapping inspections on 46 of Southwest's more than
500 aircraft. Excerpts from Kelly's interview are below. To view the complete
CNN story, please copy and paste the following URL into your browser:


http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2008/03/07/intv.gary.kelly.roberts.cnn?ire


f=videosearch.


Gary Kelly:


"We've got a 37-year history of very safe operations, one of the safest
operations in the world, and we're safer today than we've ever been. In this
particular situation, we identified a gap in our documentation. We
voluntarily reported that to the FAA. We worked out with the FAA how to fix
that problem, and we fixed it.


We were surprised yesterday to get that notification (of a proposed
penalty) by the FAA as well. The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that
as late as last month the FAA said that it had no safety issues with Southwest
Airlines. So, I've ordered an investigation as to exactly what happened with
this event. It occurred in March of 2007. These aircraft are inspected inch
by inch, and in this particular incident over 99 percent of the inspections
were completed according to the documentation. When we discovered the error,
we went back and re-inspected those aircraft, and we did that in a matter of
10 days.


We've called in, as part of our review of this situation, outside experts.
And Boeing issued a release yesterday saying that Southwest Airlines acted
responsibly and at no time were the aircraft operated in an unsafe manner.


There were 46 aircraft that needed to be reinspected. We found cracks on
roughly half a dozen of those aircraft. They were repaired properly. With
respect to those cracks -- the expert -- the Boeing Company said that at no
time were those cracks unsafe. Cracks do occur, and that's why we do
inspections. We do inspections on those airplanes roughly every year and a
half. When we found them, we corrected them.


Again, our interpretation of the guidance that we got from the FAA at the
time was that we were in compliance with all laws and regulations. I think the
FAA has a different view of that today. That's something that we're
investigating as well, but the important point is that at no time were we
operating in an unsafe manner, and I think our history proves that.


I think what we've got with the United States of America is the safest
aviation system in the world.


Of course, we completely agree that our airplanes need to be well
maintained, and I think any expert will tell you that the Southwest Airlines
aircraft are the best maintained in the business. So in this particular case,
there was not a safety issue because the problem was found. It was voluntarily
disclosed. The fix was agreed upon with the FAA, and it was executed properly.


We're disappointed, obviously, with the fine. It is unprecedented, and we
think it is unfair. So we are in the midst of doing the investigation that I
mentioned, and we will be preparing our case.


We have an unprecedented 37-year history at Southwest Airlines. And our
Employees, I am very, very proud of. They are proud of what they do at
Southwest Airlines. Our number one priority, number one priority is to operate
a safe airline, and then also provide outstanding customer service, and that's
what we've done, and that's what we'll continue to do."


http://www.southwest.com

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

It could happen to any airline... SWA probably has the best culture and leadership to repsond...