ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, January 30, 1997 TAG: 9701300047
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press
THE FAA WILL PUBLISH the first report on the Internet on Saturday and is considering establishing a toll-free number.
Airline safety records, including those of accidents and major civil fines, will be publicized, beginning with some computer data being sent on line next week, federal regulators agreed Wednesday.
Among other things, travelers will be able to tell whether a particular airline has had near-collisions or had to pay a stiff fine for a major safety violation, said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.
Disclosure that Federal Aviation Administration inspectors had been investigating safety problems at ValuJet before that airline's crash last May in the Everglades caused a clamor for the FAA to report on the safety of various carriers. The crash killed 110 people.
The FAA will make the first batch of information available to computer users on the Internet on Saturday and is considering establishing a toll-free number for telephone users.
Linda Hall Daschle, the FAA's acting administrator, said the move demonstrates the Clinton administration's ``uncompromising commitment to improving aviation safety.''
``With the steps we are taking, safety information will become more accessible to the public and more understandable,'' she said.
Previously, most of the information was available to the public only after a formal request under the Freedom of Information Act, said Wyden, a member of the Senate Commerce Committee's aviation subcommittee who has been pressing for additional disclosures.
``For the first time, the flying public will be able to conveniently determine if their airline has major safety problems,'' Wyden said during a news conference at the Capitol.
Wyden pointed to the FAA consent order that grounded ValuJet last June, citing 34 distinct violations of FAA regulations. They included delayed maintenance, failure to repair jammed landing gear, cabin doors that wouldn't lock, and a weather radar system on one aircraft that was recorded as inoperative in 31 inspector reports, he said.
``Shortly, this type of information will be available on line,'' he said.
The FAA, reportedly under pressure from airlines, shied away from requests to rank the airlines in terms of safety and accident records. But Wyden said he thought other outside groups and news media would formulate their own rankings based on the information soon to made public.
Officials have been reluctant to rate airlines on safety, noting that the current definition of an accident can range from a disaster killing hundreds to in-flight turbulence that injures a handful of people.
In addition, they say that because there are so few accidents, it is impossible to develop an overall rating system.
Effective Saturday, the FAA will make public newly issued enforcement actions for safety and security violations that involve civil penalties of $50,000 or more. Serious incidents that drew fines of less than $50,000 also will be disclosed, Wyden said.
By Feb. 28, the agency will add an Internet safety page with reports of serious injuries and substantial damage. Reports on near-collisions will be added later.
The FAA's World Wide Web site is http://www.faa.gov
LENGTH: Medium: 66 linesby CNB