Whistleblowers hit Southwest, FAA for lax safety practices
Federal officials say that Southwest Airlines and the union representing its pilots have resisted cooperating with investigations into accidents and other incidents and pushed to close the matters quickly. In one instance disclosed Wednesday, the FAA cut short an investigation of a 2019 incident in Connecticut even though the agency determined that there was pilot error. Both wings of the Southwest jet were damaged as pilots battling wind tried to land at Bradley International Airport, outside of Hartford. The FAA said Southwest and union officials resisted interviews with agency representatives in that and other cases. Sometimes the delaying tactics worked. An investigation into why pilots placed duct tape over sensors outside a plane before a flight fizzled when the FAA employee took another job. Neither Southwest nor its pilots’ union responded immediately to requests for comment. The FAA investigation was disclosed Wednesday by the US Office of Special Counsel, which represents federal whistleblowers. It reported another accident — a plane that went off the runway in Burbank, California — in which an FAA review was “fast-tracked” under pressure from Southwest. In a separate review of that incident, the National Transportation Review Board found that the co-pilot’s conduct was “highly unprofessional.” The FAA said it agreed with some of the allegations raised by three whistleblowers and took corrective steps including more training and development of audits to ensure compliance with aviation-safety guidelines. The special counsel’s office investigated eight allegations raised by four whistleblowers. The office forwarded its findings to the White House and Congress. In a response to the special counsel’s office, the FAA said it found “mismanagement and lack of oversight” by the office monitoring Southwest that has persisted despite management and staff changes over the years. The FAA said new executives will provide “a fresh opportunity to evaluate” the oversight of Southwest.<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2022-07-28/unaligned/whistleblowers-hit-southwest-faa-for-lax-safety-practices
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Whistleblowers hit Southwest, FAA for lax safety practices
Federal officials say that Southwest Airlines and the union representing its pilots have resisted cooperating with investigations into accidents and other incidents and pushed to close the matters quickly. In one instance disclosed Wednesday, the FAA cut short an investigation of a 2019 incident in Connecticut even though the agency determined that there was pilot error. Both wings of the Southwest jet were damaged as pilots battling wind tried to land at Bradley International Airport, outside of Hartford. The FAA said Southwest and union officials resisted interviews with agency representatives in that and other cases. Sometimes the delaying tactics worked. An investigation into why pilots placed duct tape over sensors outside a plane before a flight fizzled when the FAA employee took another job. Neither Southwest nor its pilots’ union responded immediately to requests for comment. The FAA investigation was disclosed Wednesday by the US Office of Special Counsel, which represents federal whistleblowers. It reported another accident — a plane that went off the runway in Burbank, California — in which an FAA review was “fast-tracked” under pressure from Southwest. In a separate review of that incident, the National Transportation Review Board found that the co-pilot’s conduct was “highly unprofessional.” The FAA said it agreed with some of the allegations raised by three whistleblowers and took corrective steps including more training and development of audits to ensure compliance with aviation-safety guidelines. The special counsel’s office investigated eight allegations raised by four whistleblowers. The office forwarded its findings to the White House and Congress. In a response to the special counsel’s office, the FAA said it found “mismanagement and lack of oversight” by the office monitoring Southwest that has persisted despite management and staff changes over the years. The FAA said new executives will provide “a fresh opportunity to evaluate” the oversight of Southwest.<br/>
