FAA proposes multi-million dollar fines for US Airways & United Airlines due to safety violations

The Federal Aviation Administration has proposed huge fines against both US Airways and United Airlines for alleged safety violations involving thousands of flights. The carriers are two of the largest in the U.S., and both stand accused of being out of compliance with airworthiness directives (ADs) issued by the government agency.

The larger penalty of $5.4 million has been proposed against US Airways which the FAA accuses of flying eight aircraft a total of 1,647 flights that did not comply with specific ADs that had been issued or the airline’s own maintenance program. The flights in question operated from October of 2008 to January 2009 and included Embraer 190, Boeing 757, 767 and Airbus A320 aircraft.

Specific examples of ignored ADs include 19 flights on an Embraer 190 aircraft that had not been inspected for the possibility of a cargo door opening in flight, and a Boeing 757 that flew 121 flights without completing required maintenance. The most glaring US Airways violation was for an A320 that flew 855 flights when a required maintenance program engine repair was not performed. Fifty-one of the flights were flown after the FAA had brought the situation to US Airways attention.

United Airlines performed maintenance on an engine that was shut down in-flight due to low oil pressure, but two shop towels instead of protective caps which are required, were used to cover openings in the oil sump during the December, 2007 maintenance. From February 10 to April 28, 2008 the Boeing 737 aircraft flew more than 200 additional revenue flights in a non-airworthy condition.

United’s proposed fine from the FAA is $3.8 million. Each airline has 30 days to respond to the proposed fines and address the concerns about these violations.