Dépêches
AEI Calls on EU to Improve Air Safety Transparency
Dépèche transmise le 10 février 2010 par PRNewswire
HOOFDDORP, The Netherlands, February 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Once again events reported in the United States have clearly highlighted the inadequacies of the European Union Transport Department's (DG TREN) oversight of air safety within Europe. A USA Today analysis of Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) data in the United States has shown that 65,000 commercial passenger flights took place between 2003 and 2009 in an un-airworthy condition. In addition, the FAA imposed fines against 25 US airlines totalling US$28.2 million. These figures relate only to those events that the FAA uncovered and are nothing more than the tip of the iceberg.
The European Commission, however, continues to protect the airlines which are under its control by consistently refusing to release the relevant safety data. It is interesting that just as the consultation period has closed on European Commission proposals to introduce fines for non-compliance with air safety regulations in order to better align with the United States, there remains no mention of placing the information in the public domain.
One case cited in the report[1] mentions an aircraft operated by American Eagle. The aircraft was involved in a major incident, in which flight controls jammed shortly after takeoff. The FAA criticized American Eagle, stating that it had "prior knowledge of an aircraft vibration, yet continued to operate the aircraft until actual rudder control failure." The FAA went on to say that American Eagle "failed to employ competent personnel to ensure the highest degree of safety in its operations whilst flying the plane in an un-airworthy condition on 20 further flights with a vibration. This was careless and endangered the life or property of another."
The airline was fined US$600,000 (US$30,000 per flight).
In Europe we are aware of one airline having flown an aircraft a further 505 times before the aircraft vibration was finally eliminated. The fine under FAA rules would have been $15,150,000 yet in Europe, the airline remains unpunished. AEI has repeatedly warned of the increasing amount of non-compliance with air safety regulations and supplied evidence to regulators, but to no avail. The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) remains a paper tiger due to a lack of enforcement powers whilst the European Commission consistently fails to take effective action against incompetent National Aviation Authorities.
The sad fact remains that whistleblowers risk losing their jobs whilst those airlines performing flights with un-airworthy aircraft continue to cheat both the fare-paying passenger and punishment. The situation is fundamentally wrong, particularly if the European Commission is genuine in its claim that safety is paramount.
AEI believes that safety is not paramount as far as the EU is concerned, but rather that it is the business model that comes above all else. This situation must change before the next preventable accident occurs and one method of achieving this is transparency. Like the American system, European citizens have a right to know how European airlines are really performing.
---------------------------------
[1] FAA fines show extent of airline problems USA Today 2 Feb 2010
CONTACT: Headoffice of AEI: Hoofdweg 616 OZ, 2132 MJ Hoofddorp, TheNetherlands, Tel: +31-655-930-175, Fax: +31-235-622556, Email: or
- 24/04Ibis Styles London Heathrow : l'hôtel géré par un passionné d'aviation pour les passionnés d'aviation (photos + vidéos)
- 23/04 SkyUp renouvelle son partenariat avec Wizz Air
- 23/04 Play : résultats de mars 2024
- 23/04 Les garde-côtes japonais commande trois Airbus H225 supplémentaires
- 23/04 Vueling et Make-A-Wish France signent un partenariat
- 23/04 TUI annonce ses destinations au départ de Deauville pour l'été 2024.
- 23/04 Twin Jet renforce son programme de vols sur la ligne Toulouse/Rennes
- 23/04 Norse Atlantic Airways : résultats du mois de mars 2024
- 23/04 Volotea renforce son offre entre Lille et le Maroc
- 22/04 Finnair a dévoilé son programme de vol pour les saisons hiver 2024 et été 2025
- 22/04 Qatar Airways annonce le lancement de vols à destination de Kinshasa
- 22/04 Vietnam Airlines et CAE prolongent leur accord
- 22/04 Mermoz Academy de Tours commande des Tecnam P-Mentor
- 22/04 Transavia France reçoit son 2e Airbus A320neo
- 20/04 Friedrichshafen 2024 : Blackwing présente un nouveau modèle de son BW650RG
- 20/04 Friedrichshafen 2024 : JMB Aircraft présente son Phoenix
- 19/04 Friedrichshafen 2024 : le projet "Fly To The North"
- 19/04 Friedrichshafen 2024 : Aura Aero présente pour la première fois ses trois appareils
- 19/04 Friedrichshafen 2024 : Duc Hélices présente son hélice Tiger-3
- 19/04 Friedrichshafen 2024 : Splash-in Aviation expose son Pétrel X