The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) for the Department
of Transportation has begun an audit into the FAA's safety oversight of Southwest.
The investigation follows its announcement of a similar
audit into FAA oversight of Allegiant and American Airlines in May.
In a statement, the OIG said that "recent events"
have raised concerns about the FAA's oversight of Southwest. In April, a
Southwest passenger was killed when a fan blade broke loose from one of the
CFM56-7B engines that was powering the flight, sending debris through a window.
Southwest suffered a similar fan blade failure in August 2016, though on that
occasion debris didn't pierce the aircraft.
In the aftermath of the April fatality, Southwest conducted
ultrasonic inspections of the fan blades on all of its CFM56-7B engines to
ensure that no others were suffering from metal fatigue, which the National
Transportation Safety Board said was the cause of the April failure.
"As part of Southwest's safety culture, we have a very
transparent and professional relationship with the Federal Aviation Administration,
which includes an FAA-approved safety management system designed to help us
manage and mitigate operational risks and execute safe operating programs and
practices," Southwest said in a statement.
"Our absolute goal at Southwest is to meet or exceed
every requirement of our safety management system, and we believe we are held
accountable to that goal by the FAA. That said, we are always seeking new ways
to strengthen our practices, and any additional enhancements or oversights into
our safety management system that result from this audit by the Department of
Transportation (DOT) are welcome additions to our safety culture."