FAA officials overseeing Southwest Airlines ignored safety violations, leaked sensitive data to the carrier and tried to intimidate two inspectors to head off investigations, according to previously undisclosed allegations by the inspectors. Full Story »
Posted by Melva Hackney
When a business and the safety overseers of that business have too close of common personal and/or business interests, the conflict of interest can imperil the safety of the public. The question arises whether this is an isolated story, of an epidemic corruption of government by an arrogant privileged class. The FAA has similar conflicts of interest when designated engineering representatives (DERs) are embedded in the management structure of the companies the representatives are supposed to be monitoring. The public safety requires a strong independent and well financed and manned FAA.
