Tuesday, April 8, 2008

FAA inspection manager gets "reassigned" after SWA faux pas

The FAA has "reassigned" one of its regional inspection managers according to USA Today, following a rather embarrassing set of testimonies last week in front of a congressional panel on airline maintenance compliance oversight. Thomas Stuckey, former FAA Southwestern Regional Chief of Inspectors, was accused of being too lenient when it came to airline inspections due to his cozy relationships with the airlines. This led to the debacle with Southwest Airline's uninspected 737s and the now hefty $10.2 million fine for the airline (which is like chump change to Southwest). What's funny is that Stuckey was given "unspecified new duties" a mere 4 days after the hearing. I'm going to assume that "unspecified new duties" means he is in one of the following capacities now:

1. Wiping vulture poop off of the glideslope tower at the Death Valley Airport
2. Manning a VOR station in Nome, Alaska
3. Cleaning the men's restroom at the NY TRACON (as seen in the picture)

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