Another week, another allegation of lax oversight by FAA officials.
Congressman Ed Case has called for an investigation into practises at the FAA’s Hawaii office after allegations were made by a whistle blower.
Joseph Monforth testified that FAA managers blocked him conducting safety inspections of helicopter operator Safari Aviation in October and November last year.
A month later one of the company’s sightseeing helicopters crashed killing all seven people on board.
Monforth was also the principle inspector assigned to Novictor Aviation.
The owner of Novictor wrongly certified pilots on behalf of the FAA, including the pilot involved in a crash last April which killed three.
Monforth criticized the cozy relationship between the FAA and Novictor.
"You need two things to make this work, the first is you need good regulations and the second is you need good regulators. And in the case of these accidents it looks like we have neither," Case said.
"I can’t sit there and continue to give them the benefit of the doubt. Now I have to assume something is dreadfully wrong and we just have to figure out where it is and what to do about it," he said.
The FAA says there is some truth to the allegations but the probe is ‘incomplete and not yet conclusive.’
"The FAA is investigating these matters and is already taking steps to address substantiated concerns."
