Word: valujet
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Last week, with a sudden clarity generated by the publicity, confusion and outrage surrounding the May 11 crash of a ValuJet DC-9 in the Florida Everglades, the FAA at last acknowledged that it is time to clean house and retool for the age of deregulation--which began in 1978. ValuJet chief Lewis Jordan signed a consent order grounding the airline, and another budget flyer, Kiwi, was ordered to cut back its fleet because of insufficient pilot training. The FAA administrator in charge of safety, Anthony Broderick, bailed out, while FAA head David Hinson and Secretary of Transportation Federico Pena...
...crash has shed light on some classic failures in the FAA's handling of low-cost carriers. For starters, after the ValuJet tragedy, Hinson and Pena trumpeted the airline's safety record--statements that began to seem increasingly surreal as inspection reports started popping up, showing ValuJet had committed enough infractions to merit grounding months ago. A number of FAA inspectors told TIME they sent regional offices and headquarters critical reports that were ignored. There is talk of a criminal investigation. And though the agency was concerned enough about ValuJet earlier this year to run a special review...
...long had a history of such "benign tolerance." Administrators, many of whom have close ties to the airline industry, have taken great pleasure in touting the billions of dollars consumers save by flying upstart airlines like ValuJet. At the same time, the agency has been reluctant to force companies to use new technology, insisting on proof that the benefits outweigh the costs to the airlines. In the late '80s, for instance, the agency dragged its feet on requiring the installation of the ground-proximity warning system in commuter airlines, even though this simple device could have prevented a number...
...particular, the FAA has been especially slow to monitor an increasingly common practice: airlines' using outside contractors to perform routine maintenance and repairs. Although the ValuJet crash is now believed to have been caused by mislabeled oxygen generators rather than an inspection or a mechanical failure, those generators had been prepared for shipping by one such subcontractor, SabreTech Inc., a Phoenix, Arizona, company that handled a number of tasks for the airline...
...changes come after an intensive 30-day review of ValuJet's maintenance operations revealed serious deficiencies missed -->