FAA Slaps American with $787,500 Fine For Lax Maintenance
It looks like the FAA has ditched the cowardly lion suit and is starting to show some more fangs these days. A few months after hitting United (UAUA) and US Airways (LCC) with multi-million dollar fines, the FAA is now targeting a certain AAirline based near Dallas/Ft Worth. The agency wasn't happy with some maintenance issues at American (AMR) so they slapped a $787,500 fine on the airline. That's no joke. It's good to see the FAA taking its oversight role seriously these days.
The large majority of the penalty, $625,000, stems from American deciding to keep flying an MD-80 for 10 flights with one of its computers not functioning. The issue had been put on the Minimum Equipment List (MEL) so that it could be deferred for maintenance until there was enough time to do it, but there's only one problem. That is considered an airworthiness issue and isn't allowed to be put on the MEL. So that plane was flown illegally.
There was also a $75,000 fee because four 757s didn't have their rudders properly inspected as required in an Airworthiness Directive. Three flights were flown. The last fine for $87,500 was actually the one that made me most nervous. An MD-80 was returned to service after a maintenance check even though the check wasn't complete. They found some loose screws, among other things, during the inspection.
These incidents all seem similar in that they show airplanes pressed into service when they really weren't ready to do so, particularly the first and last incidents. It's a big deal, even if it only impacted a handful of flights. Yet this penalty is likely to pale in comparison to what will eventually come out regarding the thousands of grounded American MD-80 flights at the end of 2008. I'll be very interested to see how aggressive the FAA decides to get in that case.
It's nice to see an agency that is charged with oversight actually stepping up its efforts. For years, many have accused the airlines and the FAA of being too buddy-buddy. It would seem a lot harder to make those accusations now.