Specifically, we were asked to address the following questions:
What is the nature and scope of the oversight of repair stations conducted by FAA personnel? How well does FAA follow up on inspections to ensure that deficiencies in repair stations’ operations are corrected once they have been identified? Current Inspection Approach Limits FAA’s Ability to Ensure Compliance

Although FAA is meeting its oversight goal to inspect every domestic and foreign repair station at least once a year, the use of one-person inspections at large, complex facilities restricts the agency’s ability to identify deficiencies and ensure compliance with regulations. These special team inspections identified far more deficiencies than inspections done by individual inspectors. Our analysis of the data confirmed that these minimum inspection requirements were met. 2.1). 2.3). At present, however, FAA does not require the use of a checklist during a repair station inspection. In each of the eight areas, more than half of the inspectors surveyed saw the need for at least some improvement. At such facilities, team inspections have proven more effective in identifying deficiencies. Resolving problems with documentation is particularly important because FAA is taking new steps to use its management information systems to determine where inspection resources should be targeted. After analyzing FAA’s inspection and follow-up program, we determined that, at a minimum, the files need to contain the following if the extent to which repair stations are correcting problems in a timely manner is to be monitored: a memo to the file or other documentation showing that an inspection was performed, what was inspected, and the results; a deficiency letter from FAA informing the repair station of the problems that needed to be corrected; a response from the repair station indicating what actions it was taking to address the deficiencies; and a memo to the file or other acknowledgment that the repair station’s actions were an acceptable response and that the deficiencies had been resolved. SPAS is a computer-based analysis system designed to assist FAA in applying its limited inspection resources to those entities and areas that pose the greatest risk to aviation safety. Actions Currently Under Way to Augment Oversight of Repair Stations

Following the May 1996 crash of a ValuJet airplane in the Florida Everglades, FAA announced six initiatives to upgrade the oversight of repair stations. FAA did not intend that these initiatives would provide for any significant improvements in FAA’s own inspections of repair stations. 4.1). For example, one inspector stated that inspectors need specific training on aircraft and systems. Conclusions

Although the various activities FAA has under way may help strengthen the oversight of repair stations, none of them directly addresses the concerns about inspection and follow-up that we discussed in chapters 2 and 3—namely the limited success in identifying problems through reviews by individual inspectors of large facilities and the inadequate documentation of efforts to correct deficiencies found during inspections. FAA’s initiatives may help the air carriers—and the FAA inspectors who monitor those air carriers—be more attentive to the work being performed by repair stations, but they do not appear to have any direct link to improving the quality of FAA’s inspections of repair stations or the speed and thoroughness with which problems are resolved.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO examined the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) oversight of the aviation repair station industry, focusing on: (1) the nature and scope of the oversight of repair stations conducted by FAA personnel; (2) how well FAA follows up on inspections to ensure that the deficiencies in repair station operations are corrected once they have been identified; and (3) the steps taken by FAA to improve the oversight of repair stations.

What GAO Found

GAO noted that: (1) FAA's records indicate that the agency is meeting its goal of inspecting every repair station at least once a year; (2) GAO examined FAA's 1996 inspection records on about one-fourth of the 2,800 repair stations doing work for air carriers and confirmed that minimum inspection requirements had been met; (3) in addition, 84 percent of the inspectors GAO surveyed stated that they believed the overall compliance of repair stations was good or excellent; (4) however, more than half of the inspectors stated that there were areas of compliance that repair stations could improve; (5) FAA relies primarily on reviews by individual inspectors of most domestic repair stations; (6) in a few cases, FAA also uses teams to assess compliance at large, complex facilities; (7) at such facilities, a team approach has been shown to be more effective at identifying problems than visits by individual inspectors, uncovering more systemic and long-standing deficiencies; (8) a few of FAA's offices have recognized that the traditional approach of relying on one inspector may be inadequate in such situations and have begun to use teams to inspect large repair stations; (9) FAA officials acknowledge and support these initiatives; (10) GAO could not find sufficient documentation to determine how well FAA followed up to ensure that the deficiencies found during the inspections of repair stations were corrected; (11) FAA does not tell its inspectors what documentation to keep, and the resulting information gaps lessen the agency's ability to determine how well its inspection activities are working or to identify and react to trends; (12) these gaps in documentation are particularly important because FAA is spending more than $30 million to develop a reporting system that, among other things, is designed to use the documentation to make inspection decisions, such as where to apply the agency's inspection resources to address those areas that pose the greatest risk to aviation safety; (13) following the May 1996 crash of a ValuJet DC-9 in the Florida Everglades, FAA announced new initiatives to upgrade the oversight of repair stations; (14) these initiatives were directed at clarifying and augmenting air carriers' oversight of repair stations, not at ways in which FAA's own inspection resources could be better utilized; and (15) however, FAA does have three other efforts under way that would have a more direct bearing on its own inspection activities at repair stations.