Feeling Safer Yet?
Mar 13th, 2008 at 10:29 am by Susie
And if it wasn’t for two whistle-blowers, we’d never know a thing:
Southwest Airlines on Wednesday grounded 38 jets in the midst of a federal probe of the low-cost carrier prompted by last week’s $10.2 million fine for missed safety inspections.
Southwest canceled 126 flights by last evening, or about 4% of its daily operations, as it inspected older 737s in its fleet for cracks in the fuselage skin, Southwest spokeswoman Linda Rutherford said. The grounding was the largest since the government ordered emergency wiring inspections on 179 Boeing 737s on Mother’s Day 1998.
Airplanes are complex mechanical devices and the components have finite lifespans. Fly at your own risk. Just because it’s routine, doesn’t mean it’s safe!