Following 9/11, my estimation of the FAA went to near zero.
Some time after all the uproar settled, a small plane caused a great stir in the Capitol (2005), and my estimation of the FAA went negative, because I recall reading about some equipment that was recommended post-9/11 not having been delivered or installed although it was sitting around available.
This week, the inspection arm of the FAA is under scrutiny.
This is the kind of stuff you hear in testimony once every 20 years or something, amounting to gross negligence, by some accounts, and subtle coercion of those trying to "do the right thing".
This is the kind of stuff you hear in testimony once every 20 years or something, amounting to gross negligence, by some accounts, and subtle coercion of those trying to "do the right thing" (watch video and get a timeline).
Even a lame outsider can tell that the management culture at the place is compromised, pretty far up the line.
I don't know if it is political appointees, a go-along-to-get-along attitude among the watchdogs because of sell-outs (directly or ideologically) to industry interests, or just normal CYA and big-time fault-intolerance by those "protecting" their rice bowls.
Whatever the case, the often non-confrontational, dreamy congressional oversight Committees need to seriously shake things up, not play nice. They need to find ways to reassert and reform so that the agency is dedicated to standards of excellence, by redefining and rewarding accountability.
[oh, yeah, TEXAS is at the center of the eye of the storm, again. Southwest airlines ...]
