European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - December 23, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                How effective Are inspectors by Laura Parker Washington Posti n the last three years. Delta air Linos Long regarded As one of America s Best run airlines has str iced two fatal crashes ant no least seven serious incidents Rel Ald la Pilot Ohio. Alicr Easchol those ashes and alter Iho Sling of incidents Delta underwent three separate safety inspections by the Federal aviation administration two inspection reports written in 1985 and 1987. Faulted Delta s pilots for lapses in cockpit discipline and investigators Are finding if Al Delia s second fatal crash last August May have been caused because the pilots forr Jolt Sel the Wing flops. The Chain of events regarding Delia provides the most recent example of a larger question How Elf Celivo Are the Faa s inspectors at spoiling unsafe trends and patterns at an airline and can they provoke. Change before disa Stoi Sinkos. The question Hal does come to mind is docs the Faa Corno out and do these things merely As a reaction when Here is a lot of publicity said Jim Burnett a member of the National transportation safety Board. Who  the recent Public hearing into lha cause of last summer s Delia crash. In the last year Faa inspection methods have been questioned in two other fatal accidents one involving a regional online Cash in Homer Alaska isl killed 8 people and the other involving Iho partial breakup of an Anolta airlines jetliner Over the Pacific which killed a Ili Ghl Alle Danl. In both cases Lilii Faa had inspected the earners Belore each Accident and was award a technical violations. In the Case of do thu. Lapses in cockpit discipline were observed Long before the most recent tragedy. Delta officials vigorously to decl any suggestion Hal either of she two crashes or the no scr is arc in any Way Conn cycled Della spokesman Bill Berry describes each oven As an aberration thai has mystified the  administrator Allan Scarlor said to considers the August Accident in Dallas to be an Industry Accident Rollor than a specific Carrier  to me he Accident in Dallas does not so much Point out a frailly or some sort of breakdown Wilh  easier As it does Point out areas thai requite More Allenton in the Industry he said but court documents unearthed in the litigation Over inc 1qb5 Delia crash which also occurred in. Dallas reveal Hal serious concerns were raised about Delta s Pilot performance dating to the mid 1970s. Gentlemen we Are at a Lork in the Road. We can clean our own  someone else with do it for us and i do not think we would like that at All Jack r. Bed. A Delta Captain concluded in a Long memorandum about lapses in Pilot discipline sent to Olla s pilots in March 1974 Bel commended the pilots Lor doing a professional Job but added that in Sonie areas some of our pilots need to lighten up Overall Philo Ignance. To urged the pilots to give proper Alle lion to of email cockpit discipline As Well Aslo ensure the proper procedures Lor calling put checklists Weie used. Boll s memo is one of Fevo documents about Delta pilots filed by the Justice department in the lawsuit Over the August 1985 crash of a Delta l-1011, Tho Accident which killed 133 people occurred during a thunderstorm As the plane was attempting to land Al Dallas furl wort i International Airport. Delta sued the government Lor failing to provide f for of i m  is Tutt Job to 15ffi tue saw is Vatos Cunt tet 10tffi"poo-Wty Ortw  m proper weather information to the pilots As they approached Dallas. The a tsp faulted the pilots for All Empting to land during the storm when their plane was vulnerable to the deadly forces of wind Shear the sudden shit in wind that slammed their Lei to the ground. Jim Gray a Delta Captain and Union representative. Said  Are evidence of a company trying to improve. You Seo a problem so things get written. It does 1 mean you Aren t doing a Good Job. It Means you think you can do a Beller  Aller the 1935 crash the government picked up the theme. An Faa safety inspection criticized Delta for lapses in its training program used by l-1011 pilots. A subsequent inspection of Delta conducted Al tar a series of Othor incidents involving Delta planes also found lapses in Delia s Pilot training and discipline including inattention to checklists. A follow up to the 1987 review conducted after a Delta Boeing 727 crashed while attempting to take Oft from Dallas again cited Delta Tor lapses in training and Pilot attention to procedures but the Faa also praised Delta for changes it has initiated in its training programs Marlon Dillman the Faa learn Leader who headed the 1987 inspection and the 1988 follow up was asked at the safety Board hearing to explain Why it look a special team la uncover the deficiencies Al Delta. Ii they d like Faa had the manpower. Hoy would have found the same things Sha replied. The ranks of Faa inspectors were thinned in the Early period of deregulation by three years of deep budget culs by the Reagan administration As with Iho Aimi Alfric control work Lorce the Faa has begun to rebuild its inspector corps. The Issue now has shit led Tom numbers la training and experience. A recent review of Faa methods by the congressional office of technology assessment l concluded thai the Faa s inspector training programs. Cannot keep up with new Industry procedures and equipment such As contract maintenance work and now cockpit  Point is Trio Faa is never going to have enough people to put a team on 100 percent of the airline said one aviation observer who to familiar with the Delia. Accidents and he Faa s inspection program. But when you do a spot Check and thai spot chock. Uncovers a problem Why Don t you assume the rest of. The airline has a larger problem ,. V one possible reason Iho weaknesses in Delta Pilot programs were not viewed As symptomatic of a larger pattern is Delia s reputation As a captains airline with an exemplary record of safety and service. The airline has always been Able to hire the Best pilots most of them trained in the military. Delta is nol a Fly by night operation it is one of the nation s most prestigious  Burnett said. If you asked people to name an airline that has had two accidents plus a number of serious incidents no one would have picked Delia.". But it was the very concept of a captains " airline that Industry observers say May have helped. Contribute to Delta s problems today. At the safety Board hearing Dillman explained repeatedly that she attributed the breakdown in Delta s Pilot. ". Cornmon Scallons lapses in discipline and inattention to procedures to Delia s policy of allowing pilots maximum discretion in Iho Way they ran theircockpits.". Delta s training has always been adequate said Gray the Delta Captain they Haven t spent Money on fancy training aids and frankly maybe they should -. Have. Th5 training has faces cd toil land Bui inca by methods worked Well Delta is not the first Aurlino to undergo such internal turmoil in the mid-1970s, after a series of accidents including two in the  1974, pan american world airways revamped us Pilot training program. United airlines went through a similar experience in the late f 970s and adopted new Pilot training techniques. Similarly. Delta is making major changes nits Pilot training programs a move Scarlor says was prompted by attention from the Faa. Delia revised its overseas navigation procedures alter a near collision Over the North allanic in july. 1967-the airline also is standardizing Pilot procedures and in january will launch a new method of Pilot training in which pilots will be trained As Complete Crews. They will work As a team to solve challenges presented by instructors under he old method pilots were retrained in a flight simulator. We do not have the resources nor do 1 think it is appropriate to maintain a constant surveillance on All carriers to see it they re operating correctly Scarlor said. There has to be a sense of responsibility on the part of the  he said the one exception to that approach would to Eastern airlines which has received an abundance of Faa surveillance As a result of its highly publicized labor discord. Eastern and Delta inspections Are handled by the same Faa regional office in Atlanta. Burnett conceded that the ask of prompting change As a result of a government inspection is Tough. When you re talking about Pilot performance  cockpit those Are hard issues to tackle with a regulation. A whole lot depends on the altitudes on the part of an airline. Their leadership their responsibility. It becomes relatively difficult to do real enforcement but he added in the deregulated environment someone has to play referee. I Don t know who can do it better than the  Page 16 the stars and stripes Friday december 23,19b8