FAA plans full-blown inspection of Alaska

Saturday, March 18, 2000

By SCOTT SUNDE and TRACY JOHNSON

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTERS

The Federal Aviation Administration will launch an intensive "white glove" safety inspection of Alaska Airlines on April 3, focusing on virtually every aspect of the Seattle-based air carrier.

The unusual national safety inspection results from the crash Jan. 31 of Alaska Flight 261 into the Pacific Ocean off Southern California, said Rebecca Trexler, an FAA spokeswoman in Washington, D.C.

Investigators trying to determine the cause of the Flight 261 crash, which took 88 lives, are focusing on how the MD-83 jet's horizontal stabilizer operated and was maintained. A critical part of the stabilizer, known as the jackscrew assembly, showed unusual wear and lacked proper lubrication, the National Transportation Safety Board said yesterday.

The sweeping FAA inspection will also address new allegations that Alaska mechanics in Seattle were told to violate federal air safety regulations, Trexler said.

Sixty-four Alaska mechanics and inspectors made those allegations Thursday in a letter to the airline's chairman, John Kelly, and president, Bill Ayer. Alaska has more than 300 mechanics in Seattle.

Trexler, the FAA spokeswoman, said the letter prompted the agency to boost oversight of Alaska maintenance. In the letter, the mechanics told airline executives they felt "pressured, threatened and intimidated" at work, and they cited a "pattern of behavior" by the maintenance base manager, Robert Falla.

One mechanic said he signed the letter because he feared mechanics were being forced to overlook worn parts that could become safety problems. The priority often seemed to be fixing the planes quickly, not thoroughly, he said. In response, Alaska officials put Falla on administrative leave, and FAA investigators began interviewing the mechanics and inspectors on Thursday night. As of last night, 23 mechanics and inspectors had been interviewed, but none offered evidence of a jet being returned to service in an unsafe condition, said Alaska spokesman Jack Evans.

"Alaska will take whatever steps are dictated by these interviews, including immediately grounding any aircraft involved, in order that we may have this assurance of safety," the airline said in a statement. "As a result of these joint interviews, no such action has been identified as needing to occur."

Falla, who has worked for Alaska for about a year, referred media inquiries to his attorney, Scott Engelhard.

"Robert Falla has never knowingly allowed any aircraft to go into service that was not airworthy or failed any safety standard," Engelhard said in a written statement. "We expect that he will be fully exonerated by any investigation into the allegations against him."

Two Alaska mechanics in separate interviews told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer the rift between mechanics and Falla has been brewing for a while. The issue came to a head last week when two inexperienced mechanics were replacing the jackscrew and trim motor on the tail of an MD-80, said an Alaska mechanic who did not want his name used. A bracket apparently broke, damaging other parts and necessitating significant, time-consuming repairs. Falla reportedly tried to get the workers to skirt accepted maintenance practices and keep quality-control inspectors out of the loop as a way to save time.

One mechanic acknowledged that many of those interviewed by the FAA and the airline have been unable to cite specific instances in which Falla tried to take shortcuts.

Evans said Alaska notified the NTSB and the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Francisco about the letter.

A federal grand jury in San Francisco is investigating possible criminal wrongdoing at Alaska's maintenance facility in Oakland, Calif., where MD-80-series jets are repaired.

FAA records show that a mechanic in Oakland complained that a supervisor filled a post-maintenance checklist on an MD-80 even though he was unqualified to do so. Another allegation centered on whether a manager released a plane for service with its throttles improperly set.

The FAA has already investigated the Oakland operation. It has proposed a $44,000 fine against Alaska and has sought revocation of mechanic's licenses held by three maintenance supervisors there.

The next round of FAA inspections will begin April 3, with FAA inspectors from across the country participating.

Mitch Barker, an FAA spokesman at the agency's Northwest Mountain regional headquarters in Renton, said similar efforts in the past have been "top-to-bottom, white-glove inspections of all operations of an airline."

The FAA did such an inspection of Northwest Airlines in 1988 after a crash in Detroit that killed 156 people. The FAA later proposed a fine of $801,000 against Northwest.

Similar inspections in the 1980s resulted in fines of $9.5 million against Eastern and $1.95 million against Pan Am.

Alaska last underwent such a sweeping review under a different national program in 1995. It has received high marks in past Department of Defense inspections.

"However the FAA wants to inspect us is fine with us," Evans said. "We usually come out pretty well after them," he said.

But in their letter to company executives, the mechanics said their complaints about the maintenance facility have been unheard.

"Our consciences constrain us to make you both aware of an ongoing situation on the heavy check which we heretofore have brought before management here in the hangar, but our pleadings have gone unheeded and have not stopped the following pattern of behavior," the mechanics said.

"Amazingly, in the midst of our grief and shock subsequent to the crash of Flight 261, many amongst us have been pressured, threatened and intimidated by Mr. Falla in the daily performance of our work. Many of these instances are well-documented, and it is a pattern of behavior he has assumed since joining Alaska Airlines months ago.

"On countless occasions, he has directed us to do things specially contradicting the FARs (federal aviation regulations), not the least of which is his persistent demand that we put unserviceable parts back on the aircraft.

When confronted by groups of mechanics or by individuals, Mr. Falla cites his experience. But we have serious questions regarding his technical expertise and knowledge."

The mechanics also called Falla "dangerous to our operation and incapable of releasing our check aircraft back into service in an airworthy manner."

Even more questions about Alaska were raised yesterday by NTSB Chairman Jim Hall, who said no lubrication grease was found on the Flight 261 jackscrew. The lack of grease could explain why the mechanism wore out and failed.

The plane's 40-foot horizontal stabilizer, which is trimmed up or down in flight to help keep the plane stable, is known to have jammed 12 minutes before the crash.

The jackscrew assembly on the plane that crashed was examined at Alaska's Oakland facility in September 1997 during routine heavy maintenance on the jet. Mechanics initially decided to replace the assembly's gimbal nut because it showed the maximum allowable wear. It was left in place after it was retested several times the next day and determined to be within so-called "end play" wear limits.

Both the nut and the jackscrew from Flight 261 were recovered soon after the crash and have been undergoing metallurgy testing at the board's laboratory in Washington, D.C.

"No grease was found on the portion of the jackscrew where the gimbal nut would normally be expected to operate," Hall said yesterday in a statement updating the progress of the investigation.

Alaska, with FAA approval, performed jackscrew lubrication on its MD-80 series planes after every 2,500 hours of operation, or about every eight months.

Since the crash, the FAA has told MD-80 operators they must inspect and lubricate the jackscrew every 650 hours, the recommendation of McDonnell Douglas, maker of the MD-80 jets.

http://www.postintelligencer.com/business/alas18.shtml

-- Carl Jenkins (Somewherepress@aol.com), March 18, 2000