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Planegate Goes to Washington

OMG, they finally stopped talking about FAA oversights and supposedly unsafe planes on Capitol Hill. Now the airline reps can skip out and enjoy the National Cherry Blossom Festival instead of the inside of the Rayburn House Office Building.

Leading the charge today was Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chair Rep. James Oberstar who thinks the airlines and the FAA have gotten a little too cozy. That's led to, he thinks,

The most egregious lapses of safety I've seen in 23 years.

FAA whistleblowers also spoke, saying Southwest Airlines neglected to remove from service planes that needed further safety inspections. The carrier's chairman, who was also in DC today, disagreed that his airline did anything wrong:

Regulatory non-compliance and being unsafe are two different things.

As always, we'll toss in our boilerplate footnote that commercial flight is one of the safest modes of transportation ever created.

Related Stories:
· Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Hearing on FAA Safety Oversight [Official Site]
· Inspectors for F.A.A. Say Violations Were Ignored [NYT]
· FAA Inspectors Testify on Safety Lapses at Southwest [WSJ]
· Southwest Could Face Another Big Fine over Inspections [DMN]

[Photo: ChicagoEye]