FAA Seeks Alaska Air Maintenance Shutdown

The Federal Aviation Administration proposed Friday to shut down Alaska Airline’s heavy maintenance program after finding serious breakdowns in the carrier’s procedures for assuring that repairs have been done properly.

An FAA official attributed the problem, in part, to sloppiness and, possibly, to pressure on mechanics to get planes back in service.

The highly unusual FAA announcement comes amid growing questions about the airline’s maintenance procedures after the disastrous crash of Alaska’s Flight 261 off Ventura County.

The ultimate impact of the proposed action, which could go into effect next month, was not clear. The airline can appeal and has 37 days to develop quality-assurance improvements to satisfy the demands of the federal agency.

If it fails to do so, the airline could start losing the use of jetliners that are due for heavy maintenance.

But John F. Kelly, Alaska’s chief executive, said Friday that many new quality-assurance measures already are being implemented, and he expressed confidence that the airline will be permitted to continue its maintenance operations with no impact on flight scheduling.

Nick Lacey, the FAA’s director of flight standards service, warned that the Alaska fleet could begin to shrink unless the airline does a better job of monitoring maintenance. About half a dozen of Alaska’s 89 jetliners come due for major overhauls every month.

Lacey said that Alaska, the 10th-largest U.S. carrier, will not be allowed to farm out heavy maintenance to subcontractors, because the airline is ultimately responsible for assuring that such work is done properly.

The FAA has grounded other airlines--most of them small--for failing to comply with federal regulations. But Lacey said this is the first time the agency has proposed modification of a carrier’s operational specifications to shut down heavy maintenance, which requires planes to be pulled from the line and serviced in special repair hangars.

The proposal to suspend heavy repairs at Alaska’s maintenance facilities came after a special “white glove” FAA inspection prompted by the crash of an MD-83 on Jan. 31. The company’s MD-80 series planes receive heavy maintenance in Oakland; other planes receive heavy maintenance in Seattle, where the company is based.

Lacey said that after finding repair documentation problems with two aircraft during the initial phase of their probe, FAA personnel rechecked the company inspections on 79 jets that had undergone heavy maintenance.

The FAA did not find that any planes had been returned to service in unsafe condition, but cited inadequacies in the company’s system for assuring safety.

“The inspection found that while Alaska was, for the most part, in compliance with the regulations, there were serious breakdowns in record keeping, documentation and quality assurance,” the FAA said. “It also found that maintenance personnel are not following FAA-approved procedures contained in the airline’s [maintenance] manuals.”

The agency concluded that the airline improperly deferred repairs on some inoperative aircraft components, defined inspection procedures poorly in maintenance manuals, and conducted ineffective audits to detect and correct maintenance shortcomings.

Lacey said the root cause of the airline’s problems appears to be ineffective management “and a certain amount of sloppiness.” He said management pressure to return planes to service quickly--minimizing the time they are being repaired and earning no revenue--”might be part of the problem.”

Lacey was asked during a Washington news conference why the FAA--which oversees all airline operations--had failed to uncover the problems at Alaska during the agency’s regular inspections and audits.

“We’re asking the same question,” Lacey said. “There are lessons to be learned on our part. . . . The process is evolving and improving.”

Concerns about repair procedures at Alaska surfaced in 1998, when a federal grand jury in San Francisco began looking into allegations that records had been falsified at Alaska’s Oakland maintenance facility.

On Jan. 31, Flight 261 crashed near Anacapa Island, killing all 88 on board. The accident prompted a further look at the maintenance facility in Oakland, where the plane had undergone most of its repairs.

The National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the crash, has focused on the plane’s horizontal stabilizer, which controls the pitch of the nose. Pilots reported problems with the stabilizer before the crash.

Questions about maintenance were raised after investigators found no grease on the stabilizer’s actuator, which was recovered from the wreckage.

The federal probes spread to Seattle six weeks after the crash, when 64 mechanics signed a letter to the company, alleging that a supervisor had pressured them to sign off on substandard repair work.

After the letter, some mechanics told The Times that several jets had been returned to service despite concerns that further repairs might be necessary. The mechanics’ allegations did not involve the plane that crashed.

The company launched an internal investigation, asking mechanics about their concerns. Several mechanics say they have told agents from the FBI and the Department of Transportation about what led to the letter.

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Alaska Airlines Maintenance Troubles

The following are some key episodes surrounding maintenance and other problems at Alaska Airlines:

Oct. 6, 1998: A Federal Aviation Administration inspector receives a tip that maintenance records at Alaska’s repair facility in Oakland were being falsified. The tips lead to an investigation by a federal grand jury in San Francisco.

Jan. 31, 2000: Alaska’s Flight 261 crashes into the Pacific off Ventura County, killing all 88 on board.

Feb. 10: The FAA orders inspection of more than 1,100 jetliners after problems are found in the horizontal stabilizer actuators of two Alaska jets like the one that crashed.

March 15: Sixty-four mechanics at Alaska’s maintenance facility in Seattle sign a letter complaining that a supervisor had pressured them to sign off on substandard repair work.

March 17: The National Transportation Safety Board says no lubricating grease was found on the stabilizer actuator mechanism recovered from the plane that crashed.

March 18: The FAA announces that it will conduct a special “white glove” inspection of Alaska’s maintenance operations. The airline and the FAA interview mechanics who signed the letter.

April: The FBI and the Department of Transportation interview several mechanics, asking them about the letter.

June 2: As a result of its inspection, the FAA proposes suspension of Alaska’s authority to conduct heavy maintenance.