FAA Misses Deadline In Mechanics Probe

From the Cybercast News Service: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has failed for the third time to provide records to federal investigators conducting a probe into how the agency tracked falsely certified airplane mechanics.

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC), which investigates alleged government wrongdoing, gave the FAA its third 30-day extension last week to provide answers about how many falsely certified mechanics are working for the nation's airlines and how well the FAA retested those who were falsely certified but subsequently located. The OSC's investigation has been ongoing since October 2007.

Nearly 2,000 people obtained mechanics' certificates as part of a major fraud scam in the 1990s. Though the owners of the Florida-based St. George Aviation were convicted, many of the mechanics who went on to work for various airline companies were never retested. Others were only partially retested — meaning a written but not hands-on test was administered — according to the FAA.
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