Southwest inspecting jet fuselages
By Kendra Marr
Washington Post
WASHINGTON — Facing federal and internal investigations of its maintenance practices, Southwest Airlines grounded 38 jetliners for fuselage inspection Tuesday night.
The low-cost carrier canceled 4 percent of its scheduled flights yesterday. But by late afternoon, 13 of the grounded Boeing 737s had been inspected and placed back in operation.
The decision affected 44 aircraft in Southwest's fleet of 520, as one was already retired and five were in routine maintenance. The carrier notified the Federal Aviation Administration last night.
Last week, the FAA slapped Southwest with a $10.2 million civil penalty — the largest fine ever sought against an airline — for operating 46 jets last March, when its inspectors first learned the carrier had not been properly examining the airplanes' skin.
The FAA mandates fuselage examinations at intervals of no more than 4,500 flight cycles. But from June 18, 2006, to March 14, 2007, Southwest operated the allegedly uninspected planes on 59,791 flights. Again, the following week, the carrier continued to operate those same planes an additional 1,451 flights.
The FAA is conducting a review of Southwest's maintenance procedures.
Southwest began its own internal audit of maintenance records Tuesday, which revealed "ambiguity" in a Boeing service bulletin, King said. That prompted the grounding, which King called "extra precautionary measures."
