FAA Accused of Altering Report on Continental

Federal Aviation Administration reports on three safety investigations of Continental Airlines altered or excluded inspectors’ criticisms that could have resulted in fines or grounded pilots, it was reported Sunday.

Two investigators said their critical findings on Continental were changed by superiors without their knowledge, the Dallas Morning News said.

The newspaper said current and former FAA officials told it that the agency rewrote reports, delayed corrective action and sealed its findings from the public, thereby reducing the severity of alleged violations in such areas as pilot training.

The actions toward the Houston-based carrier date to early 1984, they said, when the airline was mired in bankruptcy proceedings and a walkout by pilots, flight attendants and mechanics.

Spokesmen for the FAA and Continental denied that the agency showed the airline preferential treatment in regulatory enforcement.

“We have dealt with Continental Airlines in the same way that we deal with every other airline,” FAA chief spokesman Stephen D. Hayes said.

But a congressional committee is investigating the relationship between the agency and Continental, and several members of another committee that held hearings in June, 1984, said they are considering further hearings.

The newspaper said the FAA’s regulation of Continental in 1984 and 1985 also is under scrutiny by the FBI in Los Angeles, although the FBI would not acknowledge that.

At least seven officials currently or formerly with the FAA or Continental have been questioned by FBI agents, the newspaper said. Agents also reportedly have confiscated tape recordings of meetings of the FAA’s National Air Transportation Inspection, a 1984 examination of every major airline in the nation.