Word: faa
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...aviation accidents. The number of hours the average airline pilot has spent in jetliners has dropped from 2,234 in 1983 to 818 in 1985. "The demand for pilots is high, and the supply is going down," observes NTSB member John Lauber. "The carriers are getting closer to the FAA minimum training standards...
...Some of the most economically troubled airlines are deferring maintenance whenever possible, and a few have been heavily fined by the FAA for violating safety standards. The impact of these varied trends, says Patricia Goldman, vice chairman of the NTSB, is that there is a "narrowed margin of safety...
...FAA's vigilance in policing shoddy maintenance practices led the Government agency to ground 61 commuter and air-taxi carriers for varying periods (some permanently) in 1986, as well as 60 the year before. In its most spectacular gesture, the FAA in March fined Eastern Air Lines $9.5 million for , 78,372 alleged safety and maintenance violations. Pan Am has been jolted by FAA fines of $2 million, while American was assessed $1.5 million...
...everyone agrees, however, that the decrease in fatalities last year stemmed from better management by the FAA or anyone else. "Our emphasis on safe operations has given us an incredible skein of good luck," observes William Jackman, vice president of the Air Transport Association, the airlines' trade group. "We've got to be the luckiest industry in the world...
...while ALPA's Duffy views Engen as "one of the best administrators we have ever worked with," he disagrees with the FAA boss on a key point. "You don't judge how the system is operating by the number of accidents," Duffy says. "The indicators predict where the accidents are going. When you are having more near mid-airs, well, it's just a matter of time before two planes will slam together, as they did at Cerritos...