Southwest Accused of Flying Unchecked Planes

According to the Washington Post, federal regulators will seek a civil penalty of $10.2 million against Southwest Airlines for flying planes that were not inspected for cracks. The FAA said Southwest operated nearly 60,000 flights in 2006 and 2007 using 46 planes that had not been inspected for fatigue-related cracks on their fuselages. The airline flew 1,451 more flights with the same planes in March 2007, even after discovering that it had not conducted the required inspections, the FAA said. The agency ordered airlines in September 2004 to conduct repeat inspections of some areas of the fuselages on some older models of Boeing 737s. "The FAA is taking action against Southwest Airlines for a failing to follow rules that are designed to protect passengers and crew," said Nicholas A. Sabatini, the agency's associate administrator for aviation safety. "We expect the airline industry to fully comply with all FAA directives and take corrective action." Southwest said Thursday that it had complied with regulators' requests and would contest any fine. The airline has 30 days to respond to the FAA. The aim of the FAA's 2004 directive was to make sure airline crews found and repaired small cracks before they became large enough to pose a safety hazard.