FAA Takes Risks with Shoddy Oversight, Experts Say

From CNN
The Federal Aviation Administration is putting the public at risk with lax oversight and a too-cozy relationship with the airlines, a top lawmaker and aviation experts said Tuesday. The FAA has shown a dangerous lack of enforcement compliance with inspection requirements, resulting in thousands of people flying on potentially unsafe aircraft, said Rep. James Oberstar, the chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. "This is the most serious lapse in aviation safety at the FAA that I've seen in 23 years," the Minnesota Democrat said in an interview with CNN, a position he restated at a news conference Tuesday. "The result of inspection failures and enforcement failure has meant that aircraft have flown unsafe, un-airworthy and at risk of lives," he said. Oberstar scheduled hearings to begin Thursday, after a congressional investigation uncovered that discount airline Southwest Airlines kept dozens of aircraft in the air without mandatory inspections -- and, in some cases, with defects the inspections were designed to detect. The FAA also has scheduled a news conference for Wednesday, when the results of new inspections are expected to be announced.
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