An End to Dithering That Costs Lives : Transportation secretary orders probe of FAA on 757 wake-danger delays

Transportation Secretary Federico Pena has come down decisively on the side of air safety over the needs of commerce by ordering a review of the Federal Aviation Administration’s delay in issuing pilot warnings and rules about severe turbulence kicked up in the wake of Boeing 757 airliners. That turbulence was listed as a factor in a small-plane crash last December at Orange County’s John Wayne airport that killed five people and a similar 1992 crash in Montana that killed eight people.

Pena’s welcome action follows a Times investigation that found the agency had been credibly warned about the 757 turbulence by 1990. But the logical action--increasing the distance between the 757 and other planes on takeoff and landing--would have reduced the number of flights at busy airports, costing the industry money.

True, all regulatory agencies face tension between the health of the regulated industry and the good of the consumer, but the margin for error in commercial air travel is a lot smaller than in rail travel or manufacturing. Safety issues absolutely cannot be put aside.

It is unusual for a transportation secretary to order this sort of review at the FAA, but the agency--which increased separations between the 757 and other craft only two weeks ago--clearly mishandled the turbulence issue.

Much good can come of this review, including discipline against officials responsible for ignoring the evidence about 757s, and a search for other possibly buried safety issues before they kill people.