Word: faa
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...after it grounded ValuJet, the Federal Aviation Administration acknowledged, with a veiled mea culpa, that it never moved quickly enough to regulate low-cost air carriers. As unflattering details have emerged about its oversight of ValuJet before the airline's DC-9 crash May 11, the FAA on Tuesday tried to calm the public and forestall further criticism by announcing a policy of tighter airline inspections and forcing its top regulatory officer to retire this month. Too little, too late? Probably. TIME aviation correspondent Jerry Hannifin reports that the May 11 crash has set off a series of investigations...
Even if this particular tragedy can be characterized as human error, however, the crash has laid bare ValuJet's uneven safety record. Since its start-up in October 1993, the airline has had more than 284 "service difficulties," according to the FAA, such as a plane rolling off the runway because of worn brakes. In the first five weeks of 1996, the carrier experienced four "incidents," as the FAA terms them: a hard landing and tail strike, a nose wheel that strayed off the runway when the crew could not see taxi lights, an aircraft that skidded...
...Department of Transportation Secretary Federico Pena, who professed satisfaction with ValuJet's zealous attention to regulators' concerns, a stance echoed by some of his colleagues. Not everyone agreed. DOT Inspector General Mary Schiavo, a presidential appointee who acts as a watchdog for all the agency's programs, including the FAA, ruffled feathers by publicly declaring she would not fly ValuJet. Perhaps she was familiar with the FAA report issued just nine days before the crash and first published by the Chicago Tribune last week. According to that document, the low-cost carriers as a group--the analysts removed the large...
...engine failed, scattering shrapnel that injured seven passengers and causing a fire that spread to the fuselage. Within 90 seconds smoke had engulfed the passenger compartment. The crew's prompt evacuation of the passengers drew praise from a controller who watched the scene through binoculars--but also caused the FAA to order close inspections of engines ValuJet had purchased from a Turkish airline...
...FAA began its most recent review in February, after a rash of minor mishaps. In one incident, a jet arriving in Nashville landed with such force its landing gear collapsed. The agency found ValuJet to be in full compliance with regulations but expressed concern about pilot training and maintenance. Last week's ill-fated DC-9, which Jordan said was built in 1969, had passed an inspection...