Senator Feinstein to FAA: Passenger Safety Oversight Remains Ineffective

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today called on the Federal Aviation Administration to improve its safety oversight, noting a recent inspector general report that found problems with 92 percent of safety cases sampled involving American Airlines.

“It is clear from the Inspector General’s report that the FAA has failed to meet regulatory requirements meant to ensure the safety of passengers and aircraft. Specifically, this most recent report found that in 171 out of 185 (92 percent) of cases they reviewed, FAA inspectors failed to push for a thorough analysis of problems and accepted incorrect root cause analyses from American Airlines,” Senator Feinstein wrote in a letter to FAA Administrator Steve Dickson.

Feinstein continued, “I ask both American Airlines and the FAA take active steps to ensure all airline operations are safe.”