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American Cancels 1,000 Flights
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Under congressional pressure, the FAA fined Southwest $10.2 million for that violation and launched an audit of how well air carriers comply with safety directives.
In recent weeks, several other carriers grounded planes to conduct inspections. United Airlines grounded its fleet of wide-body Boeing 777s to test fire-extinguishing systems in their cargo holds. And Southwest grounded 38 planes to make up for missed checks of cracks near windows.
On March 27, American and Delta grounded hundreds of MD-80s, MD-88s and MD-90s to conduct checks of the wiring bundles, located in the plane's right wheel wells and connected to auxiliary hydraulic pumps.
A federal safety directive required inspections and proper repairs to the wire bundles to "reduce the potential of an ignition source adjacent to the fuel tanks, which, in combination with flammable fuel vapors, could result in a fuel tank explosion," federal records show.
In American's case, FAA inspectors found that lace cords surrounding the bundles were not spaced one inch apart, as regulations dictate, according to the airline.
The airline's representatives said they thought mechanics had fixed those lacing problems. In recent days, FAA inspectors rechecked American's work and found that wire bundles on 15 of 19 jets still did not meet safety standards.
Among the problems identified by inspectors: the lace ties were still not one inch apart, clamps were in the wrong position, some wires had too much slack, and insulation was not properly installed in others, according to the airline and regulators.
The airline said that the wiring problems were not dangerous. In the past, the airline's representatives said, they would have been allowed to fix the problems over 10 days to limit the impact on operations and customers.
But with the FAA under fire, times have changed, they said. "We now understand there is a desire for compliance with the strictest guidelines," said Daniel P. Garton, the carrier's executive vice president of marketing. "There is a requirement for greater adherence to the strict letter of the law as opposed to just accomplishing the goal" of ensuring that repairs improve safety.
An FAA spokeswoman, Laura J. Brown, said that regulators' attitude has not changed. "We always want the airlines to follow the rules and to be in compliance" with safety mandates, she said.
Safety experts are divided on whether the wire bundling problems pose a safety threat. But most agreed that the FAA, embarrassed by the Southwest lapses, has recalibrated how it handles such enforcement issues.
"This represents a sea change in philosophy about how best to achieve aviation safety" by regulators, said Thomas R. Anthony, director of the Aviation Safety and Security Management program at the University of Southern California.
