United Airlines announced Friday that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is increasing its scrutiny of United Airlines following recent incidents, including a tire falling off a plane during takeoff.
In a memo, Sasha Johnson, United’s vice president of corporate safety, told employees: “The safety-related events of the past few weeks have given us understandable pause and asked what we could have done differently. “I decided to consider whether there was anything I should do.”
“In the coming weeks, we will see an increased FAA presence in our operations as the FAA begins reviewing some of our work processes, manuals and equipment,” Johnson said in the memo. “We welcome their involvement and would be happy to hear their views on what they discovered and what changes might need to be made to make us even safer. ”
He added that the FAA would suspend certification activities, according to the memo, but gave no further details.
The FAA said its safety assurance system routinely monitors “all aspects” of airline operations, especially after a problem occurs.
“It focuses on airlines’ compliance with applicable regulations; the ability to identify hazards, assess risks, and mitigate risks; and effectively manage safety,” the FAA said in The Hill. said in an emailed statement.
The agency also pointed to comments FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker made about the incident at United in a recent interview with NBC News’ Lester Holt on “NBC Nightly News.” did. Said “We will investigate each of these incidents one by one to see if we can find a pattern,” the agency said.
The FAA’s increased scrutiny of United also comes after months of scrutiny over Boeing, the manufacturer of the plane that lost a tire on takeoff from San Francisco International Airport earlier this month. The company made headlines in January when one of its 737 Max 9 planes exploded mid-air on an Alaska Airlines flight, resulting in the loss of part of a door panel.
Passengers on the flight, which has sparked several federal investigations and lawsuits, have now received a letter from the FBI saying they may be considered crime victims.
“As a victim specialist with the Seattle Division, I am contacting you because I believe you may be the victim of a crime,” the letter, dated Tuesday, said.
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