According to a April 3, 2008 USA Today Article, the FAA is still trying to resolve 75 of an initial 2,000 cases in which students were suspected of having fraudulently obtained mechanic certificates and/or ratings from St. George Aviation in Florida. As you may know from several of my past posts, the FAA requested that all 2,000 certificate holders submit to re-examination unless the certificate holder had obtained some type of advanced rating/certification (e.g. inspection authorization) from a different source subsequent to the rating/certification he or she obtained from St. George. The article indicates that the FAA has refused to identify how many of the 2,000 certificate holders passed, failed or voluntarily surrendered their certificates. However, based upon NTSB opinions, we know that at least several have had their certificates suspended for failure to submit to re-examination and/or revoked for failing the re-examination.
The article does not focus on the FAA’s enforcement efforts against the mechanics, per se. Rather, the situation is identified as only one component in the larger picture of airline aviation safety, or questionable safety depending upon your perspective, being painted by FAA whistleblowers and congressional investigation into the, at times, less than arms-length relationship between the FAA (the enforcement authority) and the airlines (those subject to that authority). It will be interesting to see whether the congressional investigation results in any meaningful conclusions and whether any significant changes in the relationship between the FAA and the airlines occur.
