The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has started an audit of Southwest Airlines (WN, Dallas Love Field) following several close calls and other incidents.
“The FAA has increased oversight of Southwest Airlines to ensure it complies with federal safety regulations through the Certificate Holder Evaluation Process. Safety will drive the timeline,” the regulator said in a statement to ch-aviation.
Southwest Airlines' latest incident took place in June when a flight took off from a closed runway at Portland International Jetport, after the pilots overlooked a notice about the track’s status. Prior to that, a flight departing from Honolulu came within 400 feet of plunging into the ocean in what was described as pilot error, NBC News reported.
While the FAA has opened separate investigations into the two incidents, this audit will assess the company’s operations more broadly and is expected to be completed within three months, it told the Wall Street Journal, and will likely focus on pilot training, landing approaches, and maintenance procedures related to opening and removing engine covers and panels (after two Southwest flights lost engine covers that were left unlatched).
Meanwhile, Southwest has formed a team of experts tasked with “performing an in-depth, data-driven analysis to identify any opportunities for improvement,” the carrier told ch-aviation. It added that it is working closely with the FAA in the review of recent events, and that it has an exceptional Safety Program that includes an FAA-accepted Safety Management System (SMS) to manage and mitigate operational risks and execute safe operating practices.
Earlier this year, the FAA also increased its oversight of United Airlines (UA, Chicago O'Hare) after several incidents and mishaps.
