FAA safety has plunged: Chuck

Declining safety standards at the Federal Aviation Administration are leaving the friendly skies prone to tragedies, Sen. Chuck Schumer charged Sunday.

“Since at least 2014, it would appear the FAA has been in a nose-dive on safety, and that simply cannot fly,” Schumer said in announcing the findings of his office’s audit of the agency, spurred by Tuesday’s deadly engine explosion aboard a Southwest flight out of La Guardia Airport.

FAA “enforcement actions” related to airplane maintenance as well as fines levied against airlines dropped by 70 percent between 2014 and 2017, the study found.

In 2014, the FAA filed 105 enforcement actions, and issued $26 million in fines.

The numbers bottomed out in 2017 with just 28 enforcement actions and $8 million in fines collected.

“We owe it to the public to maintain critical oversight on aviation safety, and we owe it to travelers to uncover and solve any airplane or helicopter maintenance problems before they result in unintended or largescale tragedy,” Schumer said, calling for increased enforcement.