Federal Watchdog Scrutinizes the FAA After a Spate of Safety Incidents

A United Airlines jet sits in a grassy area after leaving the taxiway at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston on March 8, 2024. Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP

A federal watchdog has launched an audit of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to evaluate its oversight of United Airlines’ maintenance practices to check if the agency is doing its job rigorously enough, citing a run of recent safety events at the carrier that have been linked to mechanical problems.

The U.S. Transportation Department Office of Inspector General announced in a May 9 memorandum that it will audit the FAA’s oversight of United Airlines’ maintenance program to ensure that the agency’s safety controls don’t have any gaps that could undermine the safety of commercial aviation in the United States.

“Recent safety events with United Airlines—such as flight diversions that can be traced to mechanical problems—serve to remind us that FAA oversight of maintenance programs is paramount,” the watchdog’s memo reads.

Part of the audit will take place at the FAA’s headquarters in Washington and several regional offices. It will also include visits to United maintenance hubs in Chicago, Houston, and San Francisco.

“Specifically, we will evaluate FAA’s actions to address maintenance non-compliances and violations at the air carrier,” the watchdog said.

An FAA spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement that it welcomes outside scrutiny and will “cooperate fully with the audit.”

A United Airlines spokesperson said the company had nothing to share on the development as the audit is focused on the FAA’s oversight.

Because of recent safety events, the FAA has increased oversight of United Airlines to ensure compliance with safety regulations, identification of hazards and risk mitigation, and effective safety management, The Epoch Times has learned.

Safety Incidents in Focus

United Airlines has experienced about a dozen incidents over the past few months, according to a review by The Epoch Times. These include a chunk of the outer aluminum skin falling off the belly of a Boeing 737-800, a United flight being forced to return to Houston after an engine caught fire, and a tire falling off a United Boeing 777 during takeoff in San Francisco.

The incidents prompted United CEO Scott Kirby to issue a memo to customers at the end of March saying the incidents were “unrelated” and that the airline has “sharpened” its focus on safety, which he insisted was the airline’s top priority.

Over the past five years, the DOT watchdog has taken similar measures to audit the FAA’s oversight of air carrier maintenance, including at Allegiant Air, Southwest Airlines, American Airlines, and SkyWest Airlines. Typically, the audits focus on different areas of the FAA’s oversight regarding specific air carriers.

All the earlier audits (except for the one at SkyWest, which is ongoing) revealed shortcomings in the FAA’s oversight and called for the agency to bolster various aspects of its aircraft safety oversight procedures.

For instance, the watchdog found that FAA inspectors failed to consistently document risks associated with 36 Allegiant in-flight engine shutdowns or correctly assess the root cause of maintenance issues. The FAA concurred with the assessment and undertook remedial actions.

Another review faulted the FAA for failing to provide its inspectors with guidance on how to review Southwest Airlines’ risk assessments, precluding the agency from being able to assure that the carrier operates at the highest degree of safety in the public’s interest, as required by law. The FAA agreed with the assessment and its 11 recommendations for improvement.

In its review of the FAA’s oversight of American Airlines, the watchdog found that the agency lacked effective oversight controls to determine if the carrier properly identified, assessed, and mitigated aircraft maintenance risks. The FAA partially concurred, with some outstanding issues remaining pending.

American Airlines planes sit on the tarmac at Terminal B at LaGuardia Airport in New York City on Jan. 11, 2023. Seth Wenig/AP Photo

A capstone memo issued in 2022 that summarized the watchdog’s observations of some of the FAA’s oversight of air carrier maintenance programs found that the FAA had taken “positive steps” to work more closely with the carriers to improve safety. However, the watchdog found that persistent “weaknesses” in the agency’s oversight led to long-unresolved safety issues.

“In particular, FAA did not ensure Allegiant Air, American Airlines, and Southwest Airlines identified and resolved root causes of non-compliances,” the watchdog found.

“Further, our reviews indicate that FAA is not fully prepared to evaluate whether air carriers are effectively assessing and mitigating safety risks, due in part to a lack of training and guidance on how to oversee air carriers’ Safety Management Systems (SMS).”

The FAA said it has taken action on a number of recommendations to bolster its management controls concerning oversight and enforcement of air carrier safety.