Recently, a military aircraft involved in a fatal crash was modified under the DOA program, and the design changes made to the aircraft were certified by the aircraft manufacturer’s employees as meeting the standards set forth in Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs). The paperwork went into the commercial company’s “Record of Compliance” file. No one from the FAA ever saw the paperwork, as it was not required under the DOA program that anyone from the FAA review the changes that resulted in the designation of an entire new aircraft model. The changes are believed to have caused the fatal crash.

But that’s not all. The country’s sole accident investigative body, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), is woefully under-funded and under-staffed. It has to fight annually just to maintain its budget at last year’s level, which means ever-decreasing resources o investigate accidents. Further, because the NTSB does not have the in-house expertise to know all of the components of all aircraft, it relies upon employees of the aircraft manufacturers to assist in its investigation. This arrangement will always be necessary to some degree, but with decreasing resources the danger is great that the manufacturer’s fox is getting ever closer to the accident investigator’s hen house.

 James Crouse