Southwest flew 'unsafe' airplanes?

[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...

 

[Flybywire44]

How many of these planes crashed? I'm sure this is more media fluff.

How often do they skew the details of aviation stories?

 

[freeflyer14]

How many of these planes crashed? I'm sure this is more media fluff.

How often do they skew the details of aviation stories?

That's how you base how dangerous something like this is? By how many crashed? It only takes one, ask anyone impacted by Alaska Airlines 261 about that.

 

[Jon Rivoli]

A missed inspection required by an AD would render said airplane "unairworthy", it is a big deal and the fines frequently run over $10,000 per operation. That's every time it takes off Ka-Ching. Unsafe is a relative term, unairworthy is a legal term. Don't give me any crap about milking a sick airplane into an mx base. You fly an airplane without a valid airworthyness release and you broke the law. If an inspector pencil whips an inspection he broke the law. No one knows what the deal is hear yet and politicians grandstanding won't help, but there will be an investigation. Inspection not complied with? Airplane flew? Deep doo doo. There are limits on the immunity from self disclosure and I'm pretty sure willful neglect would not be covered. Time will tell, but Southwest might be writing a big check.

 

[Hamburger]

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

No, it just means "unairworthy" and "illegal".