Accountability Within the FAA
The Federal Aviation Administration’s mishandling of the problem of turbulence caused by the Boeing 757 passenger jet warrants some kind of internal disciplinary action.
Last Dec. 15 a twin-engine jet crashed in Santa Ana, killing all five people aboard, including two executives of the In-N-Out hamburger chain. The plane was about two miles behind a Boeing 757 en route to John Wayne Airport, and investigators linked turbulence from the big jet to the crash. Such turbulence was also linked to an eight-fatality crash in Montana in late 1992.
The FAA was told twice in 1991 and twice two years later about problems associated with turbulence in the wake of the 757, but it did not formally warn pilots.
Now The Times has learned that the FAA’s own top scientist, Robert E. Machol, predicted to FAA leaders that a “catastrophe” could occur due to 757 turbulence. The warning came 11 days before the Montana crash, and a year before the Santa Ana crash.
The FAA has acknowledged that it may have violated disclosure statutes by not releasing the latest information in January and February, when The Times sought the records involved. If there was a violation, it too is a matter for disciplinary action.
Not until after the two fatal crashes did FAA Administrator David R. Hinson draw nationwide attention to the turbulence problem, telling air traffic controllers to warn pilots of the threat. Only last week did the FAA require planes following 757s to stay back four miles rather than three. Even that may be too little distance: The National Transportation Safety Board recommended a six-mile separation.
It is understandable that the FAA is concerned about the effect on the nation’s commercial airlines of fewer revenue-producing flights if planes have to be spaced farther apart. But safety must come first. Hinson and his aides should have broadcast the information as quickly and widely as possible. Heeding the warning signs would have served the public better and might even have saved lives in Montana and Santa Ana.
