FAA To Southwest: Evaluate Airworthiness 737s
11-12-2019, 09:37 AM
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FAA To Southwest: Evaluate Airworthiness 737s
https://aviationweek.com/commercial-...hiness-49-737s
FAA To Southwest: Evaluate Airworthiness Of 49 737s
Sean Broderick | Aviation Daily Nov 11, 2019
WASHINGTON—The FAA and Southwest Airlines are at odds over the carrier’s alleged lack of due diligence on 88 used Boeing 737s it has added to its fleet, and the slow pace that the airline is taking to address significant airworthiness issues identified in follow-up inspections.
At issue is Southwest’s use of its designated airworthiness representative (DAR) authority to sign off on the records and validate that the aircraft, bought between 2013 and 2017 and all operated previously by non-U.S. carriers, were airworthy. In mid-2018, “through normal oversight and surveillance, the FAA became aware that some or all of these aircraft may not meet FAA airworthiness requirements,” the agency said in an Oct. 24 report from its Office of Audit and Evaluation (AAE) to Administrator Steve Dickson. The airline and the FAA dug into more records to “to identify the scope of the problem,” said the document, whose existence was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
The records review turned up significant issues, including major repairs that did not meet FAA requirements, and other recordkeeping anomalies. Southwest and the FAA agreed on an action plan to identify and correct all known issues by July 2020, despite concerns expressed by front-line FAA inspectors that more needed to be done. As of Oct. 4, nose-to-tail inspections were completed on 39 aircraft. “Significant” issues turned up on 24 of them, including 30 “previously unknown” repairs because of a lack of documentation, and 42 documented major repairs that did not meet FAA airworthiness requirements, the FAA report said.
The FAA is concerned that Southwest has completed fewer than half of the inspections, even though it has just eight months remaining in the 24-month compliance-plan window.
“We confirmed with various [FAA] Flight Standards personnel that [Southwest] continues to operate many of these aircraft without verifying that they currently meet airworthiness requirements and that FAA issued airworthiness certificates without proper documentation or a qualifying exemption,” the AAE report said. The report recommends that the agency “take immediate action to either suspend or revoke the airworthiness certificates of the remaining 49 aircraft”—which would remove them from service—until they can be inspected.
An Oct. 29 letter from Southwest’s FAA Certificate Management Office (CMO) to the carrier ordered it to conduct a safety risk analysis (SRA) on the 49 remaining aircraft to “identify ... specific issues” within seven days. The SRA should tabulate serious incidents, such as hard landings, tail strikes, overspeeds, and examine flight data to help assess possible airworthiness issues.
The CMO letter said the agency “will consider further appropriate action in the interest of safety…up to and including groundings” based on the SRA’s findings.
The FAA said late Nov. 11 that its CMO received Southwest’s response on Nov. 7, and "determined that [Southwest] met the requirements for immediate inspection and risk assessments on these aircraft.” The airline “identified four major repairs” that the agency said it “validated to ensure compliance,” the agency added.
The FAA said its Aircraft Certification Office determined that “Southwest has taken appropriate measures to reduce the risk of regulatory noncompliance.”
The airline has agreed to complete the remaining inspections by Jan. 31, 2020, the FAA added.
FAA To Southwest: Evaluate Airworthiness Of 49 737s
Sean Broderick | Aviation Daily Nov 11, 2019
WASHINGTON—The FAA and Southwest Airlines are at odds over the carrier’s alleged lack of due diligence on 88 used Boeing 737s it has added to its fleet, and the slow pace that the airline is taking to address significant airworthiness issues identified in follow-up inspections.
At issue is Southwest’s use of its designated airworthiness representative (DAR) authority to sign off on the records and validate that the aircraft, bought between 2013 and 2017 and all operated previously by non-U.S. carriers, were airworthy. In mid-2018, “through normal oversight and surveillance, the FAA became aware that some or all of these aircraft may not meet FAA airworthiness requirements,” the agency said in an Oct. 24 report from its Office of Audit and Evaluation (AAE) to Administrator Steve Dickson. The airline and the FAA dug into more records to “to identify the scope of the problem,” said the document, whose existence was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
The records review turned up significant issues, including major repairs that did not meet FAA requirements, and other recordkeeping anomalies. Southwest and the FAA agreed on an action plan to identify and correct all known issues by July 2020, despite concerns expressed by front-line FAA inspectors that more needed to be done. As of Oct. 4, nose-to-tail inspections were completed on 39 aircraft. “Significant” issues turned up on 24 of them, including 30 “previously unknown” repairs because of a lack of documentation, and 42 documented major repairs that did not meet FAA airworthiness requirements, the FAA report said.
The FAA is concerned that Southwest has completed fewer than half of the inspections, even though it has just eight months remaining in the 24-month compliance-plan window.
“We confirmed with various [FAA] Flight Standards personnel that [Southwest] continues to operate many of these aircraft without verifying that they currently meet airworthiness requirements and that FAA issued airworthiness certificates without proper documentation or a qualifying exemption,” the AAE report said. The report recommends that the agency “take immediate action to either suspend or revoke the airworthiness certificates of the remaining 49 aircraft”—which would remove them from service—until they can be inspected.
An Oct. 29 letter from Southwest’s FAA Certificate Management Office (CMO) to the carrier ordered it to conduct a safety risk analysis (SRA) on the 49 remaining aircraft to “identify ... specific issues” within seven days. The SRA should tabulate serious incidents, such as hard landings, tail strikes, overspeeds, and examine flight data to help assess possible airworthiness issues.
The CMO letter said the agency “will consider further appropriate action in the interest of safety…up to and including groundings” based on the SRA’s findings.
The FAA said late Nov. 11 that its CMO received Southwest’s response on Nov. 7, and "determined that [Southwest] met the requirements for immediate inspection and risk assessments on these aircraft.” The airline “identified four major repairs” that the agency said it “validated to ensure compliance,” the agency added.
The FAA said its Aircraft Certification Office determined that “Southwest has taken appropriate measures to reduce the risk of regulatory noncompliance.”
The airline has agreed to complete the remaining inspections by Jan. 31, 2020, the FAA added.
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