FAA Inspectors Say Jobs Were Threatened

The whistleblowers who exposed maintenance and inspection problems at Southwest Airlines told Congress Thursday that their jobs were threatened.

They also told U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar, D-Minn., and other members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee that their reports of noncompliance were ignored for years by their superiors.

Federal Aviation Administration inspector Douglas Peters choked up during the hearing and needed a few sips of water to tell lawmakers about how a former manager came into his office, commented on pictures of Peters' family being most important, and then said his job could be jeopardized by his actions.

Oberstar said FAA managers' actions displayed "malfeasance bordering on corruption," adding that if presented to a grand jury, the evidence would result in an indictment.

Last month, the FAA ordered the audit of maintenance records at all domestic carriers after reports of missed safety inspections at Dallas-based Southwest. The airline was fined more than $10 million for flying dozens of Boeing 737s that hadn't been inspected for cracks in their fuselages.

Two FAA whistleblowers -- Charalambe Boutris and Peters -- said the agency views the airlines as its "customers" instead of companies to be regulated.

They said the FAA's chief maintenance inspector at Southwest, Douglas Gawadzinski, knowingly allowed the carrier to keep planes flying that put passengers at risk.

FAA associated administrator Nicholas Sabatini said Gawadzinski is still employed by the FAA, but has no responsibility for safety decisions.

Oberstar disputed that assertion and said Gawadzinski had kept oversight responsibility for some time after he was removed from the Southwest office.

Sabatini said he would look into it those claims and promised that the FAA will "take whatever action the law will allow" when the investigation is complete.

Gawadzinski was not asked to testify at the hearing because he's considered to be a hostile witness.

"I am here today because I am concerned about the flying public," Boutris said in his opening statement. He said he had been concerned since 2003 that his safety concerns had been suppressed by his supervisor.

Tom Brantley is president of the union that represents FAA inspectors. He said Southwest is not the only carrier with a "cozy" relationship with regulators.

In his prepared testimony, Brantley details maintenance and safety issues at United, Continental, Northwest, Hawaiian and elsewhere.

"The FAA has become so focused on working well with the airlines that it has allowed its safety mission to suffer at times," Brantley said in a statement on his organization's Web site. "FAA safety inspectors are on the front lines of enforcing aviation safety standards. Yet, on far too many occasions, the FAA has labeled its own safety inspectors as troublemakers for simply reporting violations or allowed airline management to demand the reassignment of an inspector trying to hold a carrier accountable."

On Wednesday, the FAA announced a new reporting system designed to make it easier for inspectors to raise concerns and strengthening ethics policies aimed at easing potential conflicts of interests.