FAA’s aircraft maintenance procedures could be flawed, watchdog says

When an aircraft is found to have structural deficiencies, it’s up to the Federal Aviation Administration to oversee all repairs necessary for getting the plane back in the air and carrying passengers safely.

However, a recent report from the agency’s own watchdog has found that several maintenance stations under the jurisdiction of the FAA aren’t closely supervised, USA Today reports. 

According to the news source, Jeffery Guzzetti, the Department of Transportation’s assistant inspector general for aviation, announced that an inspection turned up “system deficiencies” in FAA-controlled repair stations around the world, which included “insufficient mechanic training, outdated tool calibration and inaccurate work order documentation.”

Of the 119 work orders Guzzetti looked at, 57 had errors in them. The department then projected these findings to to all stations and their operations between September 2008 and August 2011, and estimated that more than one-third of work orders contain costly errors. 

“Uncorrected maintenance deficiencies such as these could lead to the use of improperly repaired aircraft parts on U.S. air carriers,” the report stated.

Fixing a ‘broken system’
According to the media outlet, experts say the maintenance problems that have been uncovered are nothing to sneeze at. John Goglia, who has been working as an aircraft mechanic for 50 years with the National Transportation Safety Board, said the inconsistent manner in which the repairs are performed is a “major concern,” as it suggests the carriers aren’t catching the errors themselves, but neither is the FAA. 

While this doesn’t pose any safety issues, Goglia said the problem needs to be addressed quickly.

“That doesn’t mean an airplane is going to fall out of the sky tomorrow,” he said. “It means the system is broken.”

The FAA has fired back that it feels its system is sufficient, but stated that it is planning to improve its training programs. Rudy Quevedo, director of global programs for the Flight Safety Foundation, supported the FAA, saying that ensuring safety is ultimately up to the airline. 

The Associated Press provided one simple example of a deficiency that was spotted. Typically, FAA inspectors are supposed to use web-based spreadsheets for risk assessment, but almost all of the inspectors who were audited said they had not received training over how to use these programs. 

“We also found that inspectors continued to perform inspections in areas of repair station operations where little or no risk was previously detected,” the report added.

To eliminate the need for repairs in the first place, many companies are focusing more on investing in thorough testing solutions upfront to save on maintenance costs in the future.