The FAA has created its own version of an internal affairs office with the Office of Investigations and Professional Responsibility. The new department is charged with ensuring all FAA employees straighten up and fly right. “We protect the national airspace system (NAS) and the flying public by initiating and conducting administrative investigations and special inquiries on FAA employees and contractors suspected of violating various FAA orders, regulations and policy,” the agency says in its online description of the new function. The new office also “helps protect whistleblowers and others raising safety concerns,” according to a statement issued Tuesday.
But the office also has some pretty far-reaching and somewhat ambiguous roles that seem to venture outside the FAA’s cozy confines. “We also research, coordinate and establish policy and standards for investigations, as well as conduct technical investigations and manage the Agency’s Insider Threat, Defensive Counter-Intelligence, International Travel Security, Cyber Counter-Intelligence, e-Discovery and the Digital Forensics programs,” the agency says. The creation of the office was mandated by the Aircraft Safety and Certification Reform Act, which grew out of safety issues and the in-house pressures that resulted from the investigation into the 737 MAX certification process.
“Straighten up and fly right”? If this is enacted as intended there should be several FSDO heads get fired. These FSDO “fiefdoms” are what is creating confusion on regulation interpretation, pt 135 time and duty regs for example or getting any field approvals done. If not then this is nothing more than window dressing, with the FAA having no intention of following through with this congressional mandate. Another reason I do not support FAA insider MR. Nolen for the 5 year long Administrator position.
Several FAA “inspectors” should also get fired. There’s a certain inspector in my area where if they are riding along on a checkride, it’s an automatic disapproval. Something needs to be done about the problem of malevolent inspectors getting a power trip from yanking people’s aviation certificates for trivial infractions.
Matt W and Gary B – you both pointed out perfect opportunities for the FAA to improve but we’ll have to wait and see if it really happens. It’s likely the far-reaching and somewhat ambiguous goals mentioned in the last paragraph will take up enough of the department’s resources that reforming improper actions involving those who have been Administrated upon will not be near the top of the priority list.
As a 135 single pilot operator, I have had great POI’s and bad ones. They either focus on what’s right along with any discrepancies or they exploit minor mistakes to justify their positions in the organization. One department I would like to see overhauled is the drug and alcohol enforcement division in New York. Those people are on a perpetual witch hunt to fine operators for the slightest error in paperwork.
My FSDO is so short-handed that I don’t see any real personnel changes or terminations happening in the future.
… but who’s watching the watchdogs? Just saying!
“We also research, coordinate and establish policy and standards for investigations,…”
Yea right! LOL
Congress should have mandated the FAA to have an SMS program. Then the tax paying American public would be the “Watchers”. The Ol’ saying: “The only things certain in life is Death & Taxes. Add ‘The Lack of government accountability’ to that absolute. 😁
Isn’t this like the Fox watching the henhouse?
If they’d quit hounding GA and use the manpower and budget they have to do the important things — you know — like avoiding 737Max situations, things would look a lot better. As much as I dislike the FAA “leadership,” I know numerous people down in the trenches that’re doing a bang up job. That said, I also know some that’re sitting on their hands down in their basements waiting for retirement day. MOST of ’em mean well but I think power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. And they sure wield the BIG stick.
I don’t see any upside to this from a GA standpoint. As Larry said, there are a lot of lower level FAA employees that are doing a good job, but there is nothing in this that will enable or encourage them to do better. If anything, this will probably cause departments to “circle the wagons” and only do what is absolutely necessary to keep the “watchdogs” off their backs. Congress did not intend this to encourage innovation or new ideas. Their intent was more to root out the problems that led to the MAX debacle and not create a more progressive and user friendly FAA.