DOT to examine FAA policies

The agency’s Office of the Inspector General will perform an FAA audit in the wake of September’s facility fire.    The Department of Transportation’s Office of the Inspector General will begin an audit this month of the contingency plans and security put in place by the Federal Aviation Administration.
   Representatives Bill Foster, Mike Quigley, Tammy Duckworth, Jan Schakowsky and Dan Lipinski banded together with Senator Richard Durbin to request a closer look at the FAA’s policies.
   The audit comes in the wake of the Sept. 26 fire at a Chicago-area air traffic facility that severely impacted the flow of traffic to airports in Chicago for weeks.
   According to the OIG, it will “assess whether FAA has developed and implemented a business continuity plan for the Chicago air traffic control facilities that provides for adequate levels of redundancy and resiliency.” The agency will also look into security procedures at FAA facilities.
   On Sept. 29, FAA Administrator Michael Huerta told attendees at an Air Traffic Control Association conference that the air agency would conduct a 30-day review of its procedures.