FAA Rolls Out Another Industry Audit

In the wake of the Southwest safety disclosures which temporarily grounded a portion of the carrier’s fleet recently, Acting Federal Aviation Administrator Robert Sturgell ordered federal aviation inspectors to reconfirm that commercial carriers have complied with all airworthiness directives. Sturgell...

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In the wake of the Southwest safety disclosures which temporarily grounded a portion of the carrier’s fleet recently, Acting Federal Aviation Administrator Robert Sturgell ordered federal aviation inspectors to reconfirm that commercial carriers have complied with all airworthiness directives. Sturgell noted that one recent failure to comply with one such directive prompted him to validate that all other carriers were in full compliance. Sturgell said an initial review would be completed by March 28 and that the full audit would be completed no later than June 30.
In an email to all operators, Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety Nick Sabatini said Principal Maintenance Inspectors will begin an in-depth review of all airline AD compliance programs. To validate the effectiveness of compliance systems, inspectors will audit a sample of AD's that applies to a carrier’s fleet. By March 28, 2008, they will complete review of 10 AD's per fleet. In total, they will complete a review of 10 percent of the applicable ADs.
The FAA has been slowly moving toward shifting regulatory compliance and safety management tasks to airlines. It is developing a requirement that airlines develop a safety management system that tracks data trends to address problems before they escalate into an incident. Related Story
“By the end of last year, we transitioned the air carrier industry to the Air Transportation Oversight System — a systems-based approach to ensuring compliance with regulations,” he said. “ATOS emphasizes the importance of an air carrier's responsibility to have processes that effectively manage regulatory requirements. This in-depth review will assure us — and you — that we have sufficient data to evaluate the AD system.”