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 1996-04-30 monographic deposited born digital 18 p. GA 1.13:T-RCED-96-26 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-T-RCED-96-26 P0b002ee180381a66 f:rc96026t DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-T-RCED-96-26 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-T-RCED-96-26 T-RCED-96-26 Budget cuts Commercial aviation Safety regulation Human resources training Inspection Aircraft maintenance Aircraft pilots Transportation safety Personnel management Aircraft accidents FAA Safety Performance Analysis System FAA Program Tracking and Reporting System Boeing 727 Aircraft Boeing 767 Aircraft Boeing 737 Aircraft DC-9 Aircraft Airbus 320 Aircraft Boeing 757 Aircraft MD-80 Aircraft GPS NAVSTAR Global Positioning System FAA National Aviation Safety Inspection Program Testimony RCED Although accident rates for air travel in the United States are among the lowest in the world and aviation remains one of the safest means of transportation, recent fatal accidents have raised concerns about the safety of air travel. GAO testified that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) needs to target the resources of its safety inspection program to the areas of greatest risk. Because of the magnitude of inspectors' workloads, targeting is essential because FAA may never have enough resources to inspect all pilots, aircraft, and facilities. Although FAA has been working since 1991 to develop a $31 million system to target resources for aviation inspections, data quality problems, such as information on the results of safety inspections, jeopardize the system's potential benefits. During the past decade, GAO and others have reported on problems with the technical training of inspectors, including those performing inspections for which they lacked proper credentials. Inspectors have been unable to take courses that they believe are necessary for them to do their jobs. Cuts in FAA's budget have reduced the money available for technical training by 42 percent during fiscal years 1993-96. FAA projects that it will have a shortfall of $20 million for technical training that FAA had earlier deemed essential. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-T-RCED-96-26/html/GAOREPORTS-T-RCED-96-26.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-T-RCED-96-26/pdf/GAOREPORTS-T-RCED-96-26.pdf GAO/T-RCED-96-26 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-T-RCED-96-26 Testimony GAO/T-RCED-96-26; Aviation Safety: Targeting and Training of FAA's Safety Inspector Workforce; Budget cuts Commercial aviation Safety regulation Human resources training Inspection Aircraft maintenance Aircraft pilots Transportation safety Personnel management Aircraft accidents FAA Safety Performance Analysis System FAA Program Tracking and Reporting System Boeing 727 Aircraft Boeing 767 Aircraft Boeing 737 Aircraft DC-9 Aircraft Airbus 320 Aircraft Boeing 757 Aircraft MD-80 Aircraft GPS NAVSTAR Global Positioning System FAA National Aviation Safety Inspection Program