WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Two years after the crash of ValuJet 592 focused criticism on the government's oversight of U.S. airlines, the Federal Aviation Administration is overhauling its inspection system.

The aim is to reduce the number of accidents over the next ten years by 80 percent, by "raising the bar" of minimum safety standards, officials said Wednesday. Without an improvement, increased air traffic in coming years will mean a rise in the number of air crashes.

Under the current system, inspectors cover several air carriers. The new system, dubbed the Air Transportation Oversight System (ATOS), will give each airline its own team of FAA inspectors who will get specialized training on that airline's policies and procedures.

No longer will there be national guidelines for inspections that apply to all airlines. Instead, the inspection team assigned to an airline will use a flexible approach, taking into account that air carrier's weaknesses and strengths.

An FAA computer database will analyze safety trends to spot problems before they result in an accident. The current FAA safety database does not do that.

"We know the current oversight system cannot produce the changes necessary to significantly lower the accident rate," said FAA Administrator Jane Garvey. "In the past, we have focused on the symptoms. Now we will focus on the root causes."

ATOS will be phased in over three years, beginning in October.

"By the end of this year, ATOS will begin to raise the bar above minimum safety compliance with aviation safety standards and will help us achieve our Safer Skies goal of reducing accidents by 80 percent over the next ten years," Garvey said.

After ValuJet Flight 592 crashed in the Florida Everglades on May 11, 1996, the FAA inspection system came under fire for what critics said was a lax oversight of airlines.

A White House commission created after the July 17, 1996 crash of TWA Flight 800, estimated that unless the global airline accident rate is reduced, there would be an airliner crash somewhere in the world almost every week by the year 2015 because of increased air traffic.

By the year 2010, a billion people a year will fly on a U.S. airliner, Garvey said.

Initially, the ten largest U.S. airlines -- Alaska, America West, American, Continental, Delta, Northwest, Southwest, TWA, United and US Airways -- will be covered by the new system.

Sound off on our Travel Message Boards You said it...

Related stories:

• New air safety measures planned - April 14, 1998
• Critics: Too much emphasis on terrorism in air safety push - February 14, 1998
• Airlines move to improve crash avoidance systems - December 16, 1997
• CNN Special Section: TWA Flight 800
• CNN Special Section: Valujet Flight 592

Related sites:

• Federal Aviation Administration
• Department of Transportation

Search for related CNN stories:   [Help] Tip: You can restrict your search to the title of a document. Example: title:New Year's Resolutions

© 1998 Cable News Network, Inc.
A Time Warner Company
All Rights Reserved.

Terms under which this service is provided to you.