QUICK SEARCH:
 
News
Aviation International News
Airshow & Convention News
AIN Defense Perspective
AIN Air Transport Perspective
Business Jet Traveler
AINalerts
AINmxReports
AINtv
AIN Blogs

Look inside Current Issue

SUBSCRIBE NOW...

SPECIAL REPORTS

Bizav Web Directory
Visit our directory of manufacturers, suppliers and service providers

Issue Archives
Search through years of
AIN past issues


CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Search through the latest
events and conferences



REPRINTS

RSS Feed



Colgan Inspector Blows Whistle on FAA

An FAA inspector has filed a federal “whistleblower” complaint against his employer, charging the agency with removing him from his field position overseeing the certification of Colgan Air’s Bombardier Q400 operation last year when he raised concerns about pilot flying performance and the airline’s safety culture.

FAA acting assistant administrator for communications Laura Brown told AIN that the agency assembled a team of outside inspectors in April last year to investigate the claims, and found some procedural and technical problems but no serious regulatory violations. The inspector, Christopher Monteleon, alleges that Colgan pilots
flew their airplane too fast with its flaps extended and bungled multiple attempts at landing the Q400 in Charleston, W.Va., among other transgressions.

“The bottom line was we didn’t find any issues that presented regulatory violations,” said Brown, who added that the inspection team found “some issues with the difference between the flight characteristics of the aircraft and the simulator they were using at the time” and recommended “changing the way some of the inspectors made their reports to their supervisors.”

Later, the agency placed Monteleon on paid leave, reportedly after managers accused him of menacing an FAA attorney. Brown confirmed that Monteleon remained on leave, but said that privacy laws prevented her from discussing the reason.

Back

Share This Article With Others

Tweet thisDigg thisRedditBookmark on deliciousStumble thisShare on FacebookFave on Technorati

Related Articles

Mitsubishi signs first U.S. customer
November 01, 2009

Mitsubishi Aircraft scored an enormous marketing coup last month when it signed its first customer outside Japan for the 78- to 92-seat MRJ. The...

 
Republic to ground its last 717
November 01, 2009

Republic Airways plans to ground the last of nine remaining Boeing 717s it acquired with its purchase of Milwaukee-based Midwest Airlines by...

 
E190 gains ISA+39 deg approval
November 01, 2009

Embraer has received ISA+39-deg C certification for the E190 from Brazil’s National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) and the FAA, the company...

 
Pinnacle pilots vote down contract
November 01, 2009

Pinnacle Airlines and its pilots must head back to the bargaining table now that the airline’s ALPA-represented crewmembers failed to ratify...

 
SkyWest To Lend United $80 million, Enters New Code-Share Pacts
October 20, 2009

St. George, Utah-based SkyWest has agreed to lend United Airlines $80 million as part of a deal announced today that extends SkyWest Airlines’...