0 min left

DOT Report Suggests American Flew Un-Airworthy Aircraft

Joe Cortez October 26, 2021

American Airlines Leaving Hilton, Choice, Best Western

A report by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of the Inspector General blames the Federal Aviation Administration for lacking “effective oversight controls” into American Airlines’ maintenance programs.

Although American Airlines has not experienced a fatal aircraft accident in over 20 years, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) is still pointing the finger at both the carrier and the Federal Aviation Administration for failure to provide “effective oversight controls” on their maintenance plan.

The report was released by the OIG’s office on October 20, 2021.

FAA Controls Were Insufficient on American’s Safety System Oversight

The problems with American’s maintenance program are shared by both the Fort Worth-based carrier and the FAA. In the study commissioned by the House Transportation Committee, the OIG discovered significant discrepancies between the FAA and the airline. In 92 percent of root cause analyses, the investigators discovered American did not discover a root cause of a deviation or non-compliance issue, or claimed they were “human factors issues.”

Moreover, it was discovered that FAA investigators closed several compliance actions before corrections were made. Of the 394 corrective actions, inspectors accepted all the proposals – including 20 that were not implemented before they were closed.

Among the most egregious findings were two aircraft operating under unairworthy conditions. One aircraft was found to have no risk assessments for missing engine bushings and improper engine mount strut installation and was allowed to fly in 1,002 cycles. In another situation, an aircraft was allowed to operate revenue flights for nearly 2.5 years with an inoperable door slide.

“The team found that the carrier’s responses lacked sufficient details to justify appropriate root causes, corrective actions, and risk controls, calling into question why the local inspection office originally closed out these cases,” the OIG report reads. “For example, in 2020, the carrier disclosed an engine maintenance non-compliance and described that, had the problem not been caught by maintenance mechanics, the aircraft would have continued to operate in an unairworthy condition. Yet, at the time of disclosure, FAA accepted the disclosure and corrective actions and closed the case even though American Airlines stated the aircraft was unairworthy.”

As a result, the OIG issued seven recommendations, ranging from developing and implementing a root cause analysis training in line with the greater aviation industry, to putting together a team inspection approach to assess American’s safety management system. Four of the recommendations have been adopted, while the OIG is asking the FAA to reconsider their approach to three others.

Report Comes as FAA Faces Scrutiny for Dealing with Unruly Flyers

The OIG’s report comes as the FAA faces another crisis in civil aviation: unruly passengers. While the agency previously asked airlines to help curb the issue, both industry organizations and members of Congress are putting pressure on the FAA to do more, including referring cases for prosecution.