US discount airline flew “unsafe” planes

According to a report made public earlier today, US aviation officials recently determined that Southwest Airlines, the largest discount carrier operating in the United States, flew passengers on “unsafe” airplanes. CNN revealed that several congressional documents, which included the observations of FAA inspectors, suggested that up to 117 Southwest airplanes were used on various domestic routes, without having undergone compulsory safety checks. The document also claimed that some of these 117 planes may have been used by Southwest for nearly 30 months after the deadline for mandatory government inspections of the aircraft had passed. One of the safety inspectors went as far as to suggest that many of these planes were “not airworthy.”

The FAA is now apparently seeking $10.2 million from Southwest as a penalty for flying 46 airplanes, without first inspecting the aircraft for cracks around the fuselage. Nicholas A. Sabatini, the FAA’s associate administrator, told journalists that his organization was “taking action against Southwest Airlines for failing to follow rules that are designed to protect passengers and crew.” Democratic Congressional Representative James Oberstar did not mince his words when describing the situation and noted that the fact that Southwest did not conduct mandatory safety checks on such a large number of planes represented “one of the worst safety violations” in US commercial aviation history.

Southwest has thus far refused to comment on what may turn out to be a significant headache for one of America’s largest airlines. Brandy King, the carrier’s spokesperson, told journalists that the airline would not be conducting interviews and will instead focus its energies on preparing for the FAA hearing.

www.southwest.com