Aviation Safety
Commuter Airline Safety Would Be Enhanced With Better FAA Oversight Gao ID: T-RCED-92-40 March 17, 1992The millions of people flying on commuter airlines expect the highest level of safety. Although the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has significantly improved its inspection program, GAO testified that problems remain in oversight of airlines, including commuters. For example, FAA's routine surveillance has sometimes failed to detect serious safety violations. By strengthening its routine and special inspections, FAA may have greater assurance that safety problems will be identified and corrected. On a related matter, GAO noted that FAA still lacks a system to target its limited inspection resources to airlines that have the poorest safety performance--an issue GAO first identified in 1987.