FAA PROPOSES TO SUSPEND ALASKA AIRLINES? HEAVY MAINTENANCE AUTHORITY

FAA PROPOSES TO SUSPEND ALASKA AIRLINESÆ HEAVY MAINTENANCE AUTHORITY    The Federal Aviation Authority on Friday proposed suspending Alaska Airlines' authority to conduct heavy maintenance, following a national safety inspection conducted by the agency.
   The FAA inspection was prompted by the Jan. 31 crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261. The crash is being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board.
   The FAA's inspection is focused on the airlines maintenance and operations systems at Seattle and Oakland. The agency found that while the airline was generally in compliance with the regulations that there were “serious breakdowns in record keeping, documentation and quality assurance,” the FAA said. The inspection also found that the airline's maintenance personnel are not following FAA-approved procedures contained in the airlines' manuals.
   Alaska Airlines has seven days to file additional information with the FAA, which will then review the information and propose action that the airline will have 30 days to comply with. During that time, FAA review will be required for any aircraft returned to service following heavy maintenance.
   Alaska Airlines will comply with the FAA's federal maintenance directives, said John Kelly, the company’s chairman and chief executive said at a press conference in Seattle Friday.
   “As we go through these next 30 days where they have continued oversight and surveillance I fully expect that we’ll be able to show that we can execute on a long term basis,” Kelly said.
   Heavy maintenance applies to major repairs made while an aircraft is taken out of service. An estimated six or seven of the airline's 89 aircraft are in heavy maintenance in any given month, the FAA said.
   Under the process, Alaska has 30 days to appeal.