By William Mulcahey

Once again, the Federal aviation Administration (FAA) has demonstrated its bureaucratic incompetence during the recent American Airline aircraft inspection debacle (see Aviation Safety & Security Digest, ‘Agency Accuses Airline of Sloppy Maintenance While Sidestepping Its Own Oversight Shortcomings,’ homepage). This is what happens when the FAA permits the airlines to monitor their self-inspection and compliance process, and then they get caught with their pants down when they find that they haven’t done so, or have incorrectly complied. It’s tantamount to letting the fox watch the hen house.