Official criticizes FAA's 'culture of unaccountability'
June 25, 1996
Web posted at: 3:40 p.m. EDTWASHINGTON (CNN) -- Was the grounding of ValuJet airlines politically motivated? If the airline had problems, why didn't the Federal Aviation Administration pick up on them sooner? Is the FAA grossly out of whack?
Those are questions a House transportation subcommittee are looking into as it begins an intense investigation of the FAA and issues surrounding the May 11 crash of ValuJet Flight 592 that killed all 110 people on board.
Mary Schiavo, inspector general of the Transportation Department, testified that the FAA operates in a "culture of unaccountability." She said even when the FAA conducts numerous inspections of an airline, the agency doesn't do a thorough job.
"Let's look at ValuJet. They conducted 5,000 inspections before the crash," Schiavo said. "Only after the media started digging and whistle-blowers came forward was there action."
The FAA is part of the Transportation Department. Schiavo is in charge of monitoring the agency's operations.
Also testifying was FAA Administrator David Hinson, who admitted his agency acted too slowly in recognizing some of ValuJet's problems.
Hinson confirmed a report in USA Today that he expects to leave the FAA by the end of the year, saying when he took the job he only promised to remain through 1996. He would be the second high-level official at the agency to step down this year.
ValuJet halted operations last week at the FAA's request following a series of maintenance problems that were discovered during an investigation of the low-fare carrier.
Meanwhile, about 200 ValuJet employees gathered to attend rallies outside the Capitol and the White House Tuesday. They said ValuJet is safe and provides necessary discount fares.
The airline also ran ads in Washington papers proclaiming: "Aviation safety always comes first with our pilots and with everyone else who works at ValuJet."
Schiavo blasts FAA
Appearing before the Aviation Subcommittee of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Schiavo said her staff found grave problems within the FAA in 1991, and Congress subsequently launched hearings -- all to no avail.
"Our safety organization is called the Tombstone Organization."
-- Mary Schiavo, Transportation Department,
criticizing the FAA
"There were promises made and promises not kept," she said. "We found problems in safety oversight, problems in maintenance, problems in repair stations and problems in foreign parts."
She said her office has tried to improve airline safety but has received little support, and that the FAA often acts only after a plane crash. "Our safety organization is called the Tombstone Organization," she said, referring to the FAA. (160K AIFF or WAV sound)
Schiavo urged the committee to inform the public of safety allegations against the FAA, saying Americans have a right to know. (512K AIFF or WAV sound)
At one point, she waved a recent study by Boeing Co. in the air and read, "If worldwide aviation maintains the same level of safety that it has for the past five years, then by the year 2013, we can expect to lose one aircraft worldwide every eight days."
Hinson defends his agency
Hinson, who testified after Schiavo, said the airline industry has expanded immensely in the past 15 years, yet the accident record has been cut in half. Problems that have arisen within the FAA have been inherited through the years, he said. (256K AIFF or WAV sound)
"We should have done a better job of helping ValuJet with maintaining infrastructure."
--David Hinson, FAA administrator
ValuJet's problems, he said, stemmed from rapid expansion that surpassed the industry's growth.
"We should have done a better job of helping ValuJet with maintaining infrastructure, especially in regard to maintenance," Hinson said. "I don't know of another agency that looks as hard at itself after an accident."
He admitted the FAA was slow to recognize problems created by airlines that contract out most of their maintenance to other companies, like ValuJet did. But other people testified that those problems have been brought to the FAA's attention for years.
National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Jim Hall said his agency first addressed the issue 20 years ago, following a 1976 air crash in California. (192K AIFF or WAV sound)
At that time, the board called on the FAA to pay closer attention to such agreements and to make sure that contractor personnel are adequately trained for their jobs, Hall said.
Sen. William S. Cohen, R-Maine, said the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations held a hearing on the issue in 1986 when then-FAA Assistant Administrator Anthony Broderick testified the agency's "biggest single problem" was inspecting new carriers that hire outside contractors.
Broderick retired last week.
Although much of Tuesday's testimony focused on airline safety, most of those who testified hailed U.S. airlines as being much safer than American roads and highways.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Related stories:
- Air crash victims' families urge reform - June 19, 1996
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