United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1998-02-27 monographic deposited born digital 128 p. GA 1.13:RCED-98-6 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-98-6 P0b002ee180397bd1 f:rc98006 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-RCED-98-6 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-RCED-98-6 RCED-98-6 Inspection Transportation safety Airline regulation Commercial aviation Air transportation operations Safety regulation Management information systems Airline industry Fines (penalties) Chapter Report RCED

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the outcomes of: (1) the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) inspection process in fiscal years (FY) 1990 through 1996 and how this process would be strengthened to better assess and encourage compliance with aviation safety and security regulations; and (2) FAA's enforcement process during this period and how this process could be strengthened to better address potential violations of aviation safety and security safety and security regulations.<p/>GAO noted that: (1) while there are no direct measures of the aviation industry's compliance with aviation safety and security regulations, the results of FAA's inspections provide both an indirect measure of the industry's compliance and an early warning of potential safety and security problems; (2) in FY 1990 through FY 1996, nearly 96 percent of the 2 million inspections conducted by Flight Standards and Security resulted in no reports of problems or violations; (3) GAO questions whether this rate is a meaningful measure of the aviation industry's compliance with regulations for several reasons; (4) many inspectors do not report all problems or violations they observe; (5) many inspections are not thorough or structured enough to detect many violations; (6) FAA's inspection tracking systems do not distinguish major from minor violations; (7) FAA's information on compliance in the aviation industry is thus incomplete and of limited use in providing early warning of potential risks and in targeting inspection resources to the greatest risks; (8) during FY 1990 through FY 1996, FAA inspectors opened nearly 110,000 enforcement cases to follow up on reports of violations from their inspections and from noninspection sources; (9) 45 percent of the 110,000 enforcement cases were initiated as a result of inspections conducted by FAA; (10) FAA inspectors also followed up on reports of violations from outside sources, which accounted for 41 percent of the enforcement cases opened; (11) in the remaining 14 percent of the cases, FAA inspectors followed up on violations reported by other FAA personnel; (12) inspectors exercised discretion in opening enforcement cases in response to reported problems and violations; not all reported problems or violations resulted in enforcement cases; (13) the amount of paperwork and the time needed to reenter inspection results in a separate enforcement database also discouraged inspectors from opening cases; (14) FAA resolved almost 121,000 enforcement cases during this same period, using administrative actions (46 percent), legal actions (34 percent), or no action (19 percent); (15) the resolution could not be determined for 1 percent of the enforcement cases because of missing data; (16) when resolving cases through legal action, FAA's legal staff generally negotiated lower penalties than the agency's inspection staff had recommended; and (17) the impact of FAA's enforcement is difficult to asses because FAA has not followed up on the aviation industry's implementation of corrective actions. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-98-6/html/GAOREPORTS-RCED-98-6.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-98-6/pdf/GAOREPORTS-RCED-98-6.pdf GAO/RCED-98-6 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-98-6 Chapter Report GAO/RCED-98-6; Aviation Safety: Weaknesses in Inspection and Enforcement Limit FAA in Identifying and Responding to Risks; Inspection Transportation safety Airline regulation Commercial aviation Air transportation operations Safety regulation Management information systems Airline industry Fines (penalties) Title 49 Section 46107 Title 49 Section 46301 49 U.S.C. 46107 49 U.S.C. 46301 Public Law 103-331 Public Law 104-50 Public Law 104-205