Aviation Safety

Although the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has developed requirements to deal with the safety of aging aircraft, GAO does not see significant follow-through in the places where safety inspections and compliance monitoring actually take place--the maintenance bays and hangars around the country. As airlines alternatively retire older aircraft and then return them to service to meet the changing demand for air travel, oversight of older aircraft becomes a critical safety issue. GAO testified that FAA must follow up on its efforts to develop and maintain an industrywide, periodically updated database and make aging aircraft compliance inspections an integral part of safety inspectors' assignments. In addition, FAA has recently made progress on the Traffic Alert/Collision Avoidance System, an onboard device for alerting pilots to nearby planes, but several issues remain. Finally, procurement problems with the new Airport Surface Detection Equipment radar persist, and the split target phenomenon remains unresolved. Some FAA officials are leery about fielding the system until this problem is worked out, but GAO continues to support deploying the system while FAA explores solutions. Moreover, FAA needs to complete its plans and establish priorities and cost estimates for the Runway Incursion Plan projects.