European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 20, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6 the stars and stripes wednesday. April 20.1968 Faa chief hails consensus saying change is needed Washington a Federal aviation administrator Atlin Mcartor tuesday said he is delighted thai a consensus exists that change is needed in the Nalion Sair safety system. It s not a matter of unsafe or Safe or that some thing is wrong it s just thai improvement is necessary improvement is required Mcartor said on Abc tvs today show. His comments came a Day after a presidential com Mission said the government should step up its in spec Tian of the nation s airlines if safely is to be maintained and should establish a permanent program of in depth examinations of air carriers. The findings were released As the Federal aviation administration continued its detailed inspection of two of the country s largest airlines. Continental and Easice. And staged a Broad review of safety among the country s commuter Airl incs. The presidential panel called on the Faa to hire additional inspectors slag More frequent Surprise inspections and give priority to airlines undergoing major changes. These changes of the inspection program arc Crit ical to maintaining safety said John Aibertina. Chair Man of the president s commission on aviation safety alb Cirinc olso appearing on today commented that the Faa is falling behind in the area of technology because of Federal regulations relating to procurement. In addition the Agency is hampered by civil service hiring rules Albertine said. He said he would Hope a new Independent Agency could set in own More flex Ible hiring and procurement practices. Rep. Guy Molinari r-n.y., during an appearance on Abc s Good morning America termed the idea of Surprise inspection a Good one. The current safely system is basically sound Molinari said there just Aren t enough air traffic control lers maintenance technicians and safety inspectors. More of those people Are needed he said. Last year the a a had Jusi Over 2,000 inspectors an increase of about 500 Over the last five years the com Mission said. The pane released is report a Flor a nine month study