FAA Proposes Fines For US Airways, United Safety Violations
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration today proposed a $5.4 million penalty against US Airways and a $3.8 million penalty against United Airlines for flying aircraft that did not comply with federal safety standards. FAA said both US Airways and United have 30 days from the receipt of the FAA's civil penalty letter to respond.
FAA claims that from October 2008 to January 2009 US Airways operated eight aircraft on a combined 1,647 flights that violated airworthiness directives, and United between February 2008 and April 2008 operated a Boeing 737 on more than 200 flights in violations of safety procedures for the aircraft's engine.
One Airbus 320 accounts for more than half of the US Airways flights that violated FAA regulations. From May 22, 2008, to Jan. 13, 2009, the A320 handled 855 flights "while the aircraft did not meet the airline's maintenance program requirements for an engine repair," FAA said today, claiming US Airways "could have deferred maintenance of this item for 10 days under its maintenance program but failed to do so." FAA further noted that 51 of the flights occurred after it brought the problem to the carrier's attention on Dec. 31, 2008.
Other infractions FAA charged US Airways with include an Embraer 190 that flew 19 flights without an inspection to ensure the cargo door would remain closed during flight; two Airbus 320s that flew a combined 43 flights without completing inspections for cracks in the landing gear; a Boeing 757 that flew 505 flights without proper engine inspection and another that flew 121 flights without proper maintenance; and a Boeing 767 that flew 51 flights without "the inspections, tests and samplings required by its maintenance program."
Of United's one-plane violation, FAA said mechanics violated procedures when they used "towels instead of required protective caps" to protect "openings in the oil sump area when maintenance was done in December 2007."
US Airways in a statement said, "Today's proposed penalty dates back to challenges we experienced during the integration of maintenance systems and processes on flights that occurred in 2008 and January 2009." US Airways said it has completed this year a comprehensive review of its maintenance programs with FAA. "This collaborative process included efforts to identify the issues, drill down to find the root cause and develop comprehensive fixes," the carrier said.
US Airways plans to "work with the FAA in a cooperative manner to promptly achieve a negotiated resolution of the FAA's civil penalty proposal."