Southwest is working out a deal with the FAA to allow them to continue flying 737-700's beyond the required inpection dates for "backup hydraulic systems".
At the moment, they have grounded 128 aircraft and cancelled at least 90 flights. That amounts to about one fifth of their fleet.
A Southwest Airlines spokeswomen has called the missed inspections "inadvertent" and assures us that safety is the airline's highest priority.
Safety requires intention. If safety is your greatest priority then safety inspections are your greatest intention, yet these inspections were overlooked unintentionally which algebraically translates to a lack of intention to perform them. I'm sure safety is of great concern to Southwest but I question what their highest priority is.
Which is why we have regulators, who seem to have failed us here (apparently Southwest reported the problem to them, not vice-versa) and who are willing to 'negotiate' a deal to allow flights to continue without a normally required level of redundancy over primary flight control.
Perhaps the 'system' is on the MMEL list. It better be. I would be interested to know the details of the 'system' is question and what other contingency might be used in its place. Gambling with people's lives is not the role of the FAA.
At the moment, they have grounded 128 aircraft and cancelled at least 90 flights. That amounts to about one fifth of their fleet.
A Southwest Airlines spokeswomen has called the missed inspections "inadvertent" and assures us that safety is the airline's highest priority.
Safety requires intention. If safety is your greatest priority then safety inspections are your greatest intention, yet these inspections were overlooked unintentionally which algebraically translates to a lack of intention to perform them. I'm sure safety is of great concern to Southwest but I question what their highest priority is.
Which is why we have regulators, who seem to have failed us here (apparently Southwest reported the problem to them, not vice-versa) and who are willing to 'negotiate' a deal to allow flights to continue without a normally required level of redundancy over primary flight control.
Perhaps the 'system' is on the MMEL list. It better be. I would be interested to know the details of the 'system' is question and what other contingency might be used in its place. Gambling with people's lives is not the role of the FAA.
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