European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 16, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday May 16, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 13 Congress fold a a can t Washington a the Federal aviation adminis Talion is ill prepared to assure airline compliance with safely regulations and May not be capable of monitoring air carriers adequately Tor years a congressional study says. The preliminary report by the general accounting office was presented to the House aviation subcommittee thursday h conies at n Lime when the Faa already is under tire from Many members of Congress for not having enough experienced Nir traffic controllers and airline inspectors. The Gao findings arc in the second instalment of a in nighty examination of the Faa s inspection procedures made in i jul bin congressional staffers said they also reflect changes the Agency has made recently arid pre sent conditions " in  Herbert r. Mcclure of the Cao told the House Uvia tinn subcommittee the a a at present can it Jay will Assurance Itiat airlines arc complying with safely  the report had been requested by rep. Norman min Cla p-culif., chairman or the subcommittee. He said in opening remarks said thai while Congress never deregulated airline safely the a a s failure to respond to the new environment May have resulted in do Facto deregulation of aviation safely.". Among the findings of the Gao investigators the Faa does not know How its  is being used and Liow Many inspectors arc assigned to various Seelars of Itie airline Industry. Training for inspectors is inadequate with new. Training programs postponed because of the need to give new inspectors initial training. Training records of a Sample of 17 inspectors in the Northwest Region showed none had received All the training considered necessary. Faa regulations and handbooks for inspectors continue to be obsolete incomplete or ambiguous and have resulted in varying interpretations of safely regulations. An a a computer system that is supposed to improve inspector staffing and distribute safely information has encountered numerous problems and is unlikely to provide usable nationwide data for the nest several years additional inspectors while the report noted Faa plans to hire additional inspectors through the next fiscal year it concluded that the Agency is ill prepared to absorb such an increase. It said in  years before All the needed internal management controls inspector training and. Supervisory managerial oversight will be in place to Nti Ike full use of i he added manpower. Meanwhile the Faa docs not have an effective plan. For dealing with its Short term problem of ensuring airline compliance with safety regulations while it is pulling its Long term strategy in place the Gao said. Lust summer the Gao released the results of a Survey that showed while sonic airlines arc closely inspected others Are hardly inspected Al All. In suggested thai the inspection work Force is too Small to Deal with the Large number of airlines that have emerged since deregulation of the Industry. Since then the Faa has said it will litre an additional 500 inspectors und clerical support personnel. It has nearly i ,800, about one third of which arc assigned exclusively to commercial Jet operator the Agency also has revamped part of its inspection program in an attempt to standardize inspection proce dures and has begun n series of in depth inspections in Svilich teams of inspectors focus on n single airline. The Faa has acknowledged there have been serious problems with its inspection operation but senior Agency officials say Uherc arc efforts under Way 10 Correct the shortcomings through increased staffing and redistribution of the work of proc. During recent Soennic hearings Anthony Broderick associate administrator for flight standards filed sonic of the Faa s recent enforcement actions As evidence the Agency is determined to keep close watch on the airlines among those actions has been a. Proposed s9.s million Fine against Eastern airlines for safely violations. Eastern Lias refused to pay the Fine and has challenged Lliel a to take it to court disputing the technical integrity of the Faa inspectors findings. Meanwhile Faa administrator Donald Engen has said airline deregulation has brought changes including the emergence of Many new airlines Hie said he Faa has had trouble keeping up. I be got to look you in the Eye he told one senator earlier in the week. " 1 Don t have enough people to put a Man in every cockpit or keep an Eye on every Man that turns a wrench.". Marines help Battle North Carolina fire Hampstead. . A weary cram line firefighters with help from the marines completed containment lines wednesday around a Blaze that has raged through 73,000 acres of Woodland but officials slopped Short of saying the fire was contained we re going to stay until general Rains give it no Chance of getting out said Tommy Thompson of the slate Forest serv ice. Then Well declare in out on  were expected to mass a major attack using military re sources. Foam a and water with Welting agents that can soak into the soil Thomp son said. Firefighters say it will take a drought breaking rain of 2 to 3 inches to quench the 10-Day-old Blaze. Forecasters said there was a Chance of  thursday firefighters using plows and bulldozers to finish the containment lines around a 44 mile perimeter were aided wednesday by Low winds High humidity and an occasional Sprinkle of ram. But Thompson said if Strong winds and Low humidity developed the fire could come out us any Lime firefighters will continue to plow the fire lines deeper and wider us Well As clean up any hoi spots. The massive Blaze has Cost the state at Sands of time least 1308,000. Officials said. We re going to win said John Lively division chief at the northernmost Extension of the fire about four Miles South of Maple Hill. Lively s 30 men Many of them marines from Camp . Helped Complete the containment lines around the 14-mile-Long fire. "1 think the folks up at Maple Hill will appreciate in if we Stop it Here said Lively. They re going to take their thank a fire fighter today sign Down if we Don t. And i Don t want to Chase this sucker  huge bulldozers slowed lines through 50 acres of soldering debris on an International paper co. Tree Plantation thai had been burning for three Days. Marines sprayed Pines standing in smoking peal with foam normally used for burning air planes. The soldering debris was about 100 Yards from the unburned Frontier Lively was trying to protect. The wind blew embers away from the Green Brush but Lively said the fire still could travel underground through the peal. Al another hot spot Richard Vinson of the North Carolina air National guard was supervising 10 men Cooling Down Smol Dering areas and reinforcing fire lines. In the stars and stripes 40 years ago today. May 16 1946 there was no improvement on the . Labor front but government and Union officials were making an Effort to Settle the prolonged Coal dispute and to Avert a Ohmic cd tie up of the nation s railroads at separate conferences in Washington. 30 years ago today. May 16 1956 John Gilbert Graham a 24-year-old Denver youth who dynamited a United air lines plane killing his Mother and 43 others was ordered to die in the cob do a chamber. He was found guilty May 5 after a 17-Day trial