Democratic Members Ask FAA to Identify Steps it is Taking to Ensure Reliable Maintenance and Repair of Composite Aircraft
(Washington, DC) – Yesterday, Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, Ranking Member, House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, Ms. Donna F. Edwards, Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight, and Mr. Jerry Costello, Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Aviation, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, sent a letter to the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Mr. J. Randolph Babbitt, regarding concerns raised in a newly released Government Accountability Office (GAO) report these three Members requested on the FAA’s oversight of composite built aircraft. The letter requested that the FAA Administrator provide the Members with a written explanation of the practical and proactive steps the FAA is taking to ensure it has robust oversight over the requirements necessary to ensure the proper maintenance and repair of composite aircraft.
“We sent this letter to the FAA to ensure that the agency is taking proactive measures to ensure the safe and effective maintenance and repair of newly emerging composite built commercial aircraft,” said Ranking Member Eddie Bernice Johnson. “Composite built aircraft present opportunities as well as unique and complex challenges and we need to make sure FAA is addressing all of these challenges appropriately.”
The Members’ interest in having GAO examine these issues was sparked by the increasing use of composite materials in commercial aircraft. In the report released yesterday, “AVIATION SAFETY: Status of FAA’s Actions to Oversee the Safety of Composite Airplanes,” the GAO did not find that any of the concerns they identified posed extraordinary safety risks. They did, however, identify several issues, particularly regarding “repair and maintenance of composites in commercial airplanes” that appear to warrant increased attention by the FAA.
“The FAA needs to ensure that it has a multi-faceted plan in place to address the issues raised in the GAO’s report regarding proper maintenance and repair of composite built aircraft,” said Congresswoman Donna F. Edwards. “This is an issue that requires aggressive and comprehensive oversight. We must make sure FAA takes it seriously."
“Given the increasing use of and apparent benefits of composites, particularly reduced fuel consumption, we need to be sure that the FAA is planning accordingly to meet future needs in regard to the inspector workforce,” said Mr. Costello. “Now is the time to be thinking through these issues in a comprehensive way.”
The GAO report concluded: “As more airlines add airplanes with composite airframe structures to their fleets, the demand for composite maintenance and repair will increase. To accommodate that growth, FAA will likely need to certify and oversee an increasing number of repair facilities, and more FAA personnel will likely need knowledge and training in composites. It is, however, unclear at this time what the extent of the demand will be on FAA to certify additional repair stations for composites and on FAA inspectors who would oversee those stations. It is also too early to determine how well positioned FAA and its inspectors will be to meet future demands given that several FAA efforts, including in the areas of composite training and FAA guidance, are in the planning stages or are only recently under way.”
Given these concerns and the absence of any FAA requirements regarding the repair and maintenance of composite materials on aircraft the letter asks the FAA Administrator to provide the Members with a written response outlining the steps the agency is currently taking and plans to take to build better safety and maintenance requirements into the air safety system in light of the increased reliance on composites and the increased demand for expertise in this field. The letter also asks the FAA to ensure that it is taking steps to leverage the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) expertise in composite material research as it begins to oversee an increasing fleet of composite built aircraft.
Letter to FAA Administrator, Mr. J. Randolph Babbitt, available here:
/imo/media/doc/Letter%20to%20FAA%20Administrator%20re%20GAO%20composite%20aircraft%20report.pdf
“AVIATION SAFETY: Status of FAA’s Actions to Oversee the Safety of Composite Airplanes,” Government Accountability Office, GAO-11-849, September 2011, available here: https://www.gao.gov/new.items/d11849.pdf
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