FAA Changes in Wake of Crash

Re “FAA to Institute Major Changes in Overseeing Airlines,” June 19: Now that the Federal Aviation Administration has moved to make safety its first priority, it is time that the FAA moves to retire planes based upon the age of the aircraft alone.

As a state-registered professional engineer with over 30 years experience as a reliability engineer, I know of no complex aircraft that has ever been designed to last forever failure-free. The longer an aircraft flies the more an expected number of random failures will occur. Add to these random failures the failures due to parts and materials that have reached their specified end of life. It’s not easy to predict what will fail next on board an aging aircraft in a catastrophic, life-threatening way.

The public safety should not be jeopardized by trying to squeeze a couple of more years out of tired old aircraft.

IRA ZIMMERMAN

San Juan Capistrano

* It is outrageous to hear that Anthony Broderick resigned or was forced to resign as a result of the FAA’s certification of ValuJet as “safe.” If he was responsible for the procedures that certified an unsafe airline, he should have been fired. In the private sector, layoffs and firings are commonplace. But when bureaucrats behave irresponsibly with the public trust, they are invited to collect pension checks.

Worse, Transportation Secretary Federico Pena and FAA Administrator David Hinson, both of whom confidently reassured the public of ValuJet’s safety, are staying on. Has their credibility not vanished? Are they not accountable for their vocal and unequivocal support of a derelict airline to a traveling public that depends on them?

More offensive still is the idea that Broderick was made a “scapegoat.” There are 110 people who were made scapegoats to the FAA’s irresponsible performance--not to mention the suffering of their families and friends. But no one even whispers about firing those who are responsible for certifying an unsafe airline, or for encouraging the public to travel on an unsafe airline for a full month after the tragedy over the Everglades.

MICHALE D. AGLION

Los Angeles