Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) air safety inspectors found an overall adherence rate of 98 percent in conducting more than 5,600 audits of Airworthiness Directive (ADs) compliance at over 100 U.S. air carriers, Acting Administrator Robert A. Sturgell announced on Sept. 5. He said the “very, very high rate of compliance is not an accident, not a miracle and not due to luck, but results from a team effort by government and industry.” The 5,628 audits were carried out in two phases, the first taking place in March. The initial FAA report card found a better than 99% compliance rate based on limited spot checks of airline maintenance tasks. The second audit was broader than the FAA’s first, which sampled only one-tenth of all mandatory safety directives at each U.S. carrier.  The first included over 2,400 audits involving 42 aircraft makes/models at 117 airlines. The follow-up review included over 3,200 audits at 109 air carriers. The second audit also included visual inspections of one-third of the affected aircraft. The first audit uncovered seven cases of non-compliance at four un-named airlines. The second found an additional 17 infractions involving 11 air carriers. They mostly involved improper record keeping or use of maintenance procedures without prior FAA approval.