Inspections of MD-80s Yielding Troubling Results
WOLF BLITZER, HOST: It's noon in Washington; 9:00 a.m. in Los Angeles; 5:00 p.m. in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and 8:00 p.m. in Moscow. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks for joining us for this 90-minute LATE EDITION. We'll get to our guests shortly, but first a check of the hour's top stories. "Peanuts" creator Charles Schulz died last night at his home in California. He had been battling cancer. Schulz's death coincides with the appearance in today's Sunday comics of the final "Peanuts" strip in which Schulz formally ended the cartoon. "Peanuts" first appeared in 1950 when Schulz was only in his twenties. Over the next 50 years, he penned nearly 18,000 strips. Charles Schulz was 77. Reform Party chairman Jack Gargan, an ally of Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura, was ousted yesterday at the party's national meeting in Nashville. Pat Choate, Ross Perot's 1996 vice presidential running mate, was then chosen interim chairman. Gargan was voted out after he refused to call the meeting to order which precipitated a raucous shouting match among the delegates. On Friday, Ventura himself dropped out of the Reform Party. Overseas, NATO peacekeepers in Kosovo shot and killed an Albanian sniper and wounded two others in the town of Mitrovica. The snipers came under fire after two French peacekeepers were shot and wounded today in separate incidents. The bridge that divides the town was blocked off with barbed wire after Serbs say Albanians crossed the bridge and threw grenades as a house, wounding seven people. It's being called an environmental disaster in Central Europe, perhaps the worst since Chernobyl, a cyanide spill has moved into Yugoslavia along the Tisa River. It began two weeks ago, when a dam overflowed at a gold mine in Romania. Local officials say the spill has destroyed nearly all life in the water. Airline mechanics are inspecting hundreds of MD-80 series jetliners. The Federal Aviation Administration ordered every MD-80 operating in the United States to be inspected before midday Monday. They're focusing on a piece in the tail called the jackscrew, which is suspected in the crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261 on January 31. Since last Thursday, some 21 planes have been found to have irregularities in the jackscrew or other parts of the tail section. Joining us now to talk about all of this, including the inspections of the MD-80, is the person who ordered the inspections, Federal Aviation Administrator Jane Garvey in her first television interview since the Alaska Airlines crash. Jane Garvey, welcome to LATE EDITION, thank you so much for joining us.</s>JANE GARVEY, FAA ADMINISTRATOR: Thank you very much, Wolf.</s>BLITZER: All right, what is the latest numbers that you have? There are about 1,100 MD-80 series planes -- related aircraft; most have already been inspected, but how many -- we say 21 -- have been discovered with this potential problem in the stabilizer?</s>GARVEY: Well, first of all, let me say that we have verified 15, although I know that the press is reporting 21, and that's -- that probably will prove to be the case. And it's important to mention that what we're seeing is anything from something that's very minor, which is -- which might just be normal wear and tear, to something that is more significant. And it's clearly the very small number, but still important, of the ones that have been found with some significant problems that we're focusing on. And I will tell that you the NTSB and the FAA inspectors are working really around the clock to look at that information and to make some assessments.</s>BLITZER: And all these inspections will be completed by mid-day Monday?</s>GARVEY: Well, that's right. In fact the airlines tell us that they will have them done this evening. But we're giving them until mid-day tomorrow to get the information to us. And our inspectors are working with them, so we're very confident the work will be done.</s>BLITZER: The FAA ordered an inspection of the stabilizers because of corrosion sometime ago, over a 18-month period. If there was some suspicion before the Alaska Airlines crash that there might be a problem, why did it take so long for -- why was the initial inspection order over a 18-month period?</s>GARVEY: Well, first of all, that air worthiness directive, which was issued and given a 18-month period, focused on a different part of the horizontal stabilizer, not the jackscrew. And in this case, I believe that the board has indicated that corrosion has not -- is not an issue. So that's sort of separate. What we're focusing on right now, as you've indicated, is the jackscrew and that's the inspection that's taking place. So, a different part of the stabilizer.</s>BLITZER: And it's fair to say that this inspection was directly the result of suspicions stemming from the Alaska Airlines crash.</s>GARVEY: That's correct. The NTSB brought up the stabilizer. Our folks looked at it with them and came to the conclusion that the immediate inspection was warranted and was the prudent and right thing to do.</s>BLITZER: In the military -- in the U.S. Air Force, Navy -- I used to cover the Pentagon -- when there was a suspected problem, they would immediately order a complete stand down of all aircraft to spend a day or two checking to make sure that the problem didn't exist in other planes. Why not just do a complete stand down instead of doing it over a few days? People are going to be getting on MD-80s today and they're wondering: was this MD-80, the one they're getting on, already inspected?</s>GARVEY: Well, I think it's important to say that, first of all, we're working very closely with the NTSB on that issue. And that if it were necessary, and the NTSB is very good about communicating some of that to us, we would take those actions. In this case, what we were seeing again in some cases were just the normal wear and tear. So we're finding the airlines acting very aggressively. They'll have that work done, I think, for the most part, this evening. So we think this is the right thing to do. We want to be aggressive. And I think we are being aggressive. And I think for the most part, these planes will be finished this evening.</s>BLITZER: All right. You know, "U.S. News and World Report" in an article out in a new issue coming out today, writes this about the specific problems -- specific part that's suspected of causing this problem. Let me read to you what it says. "Some aviation experts say that oversight of foreign suppliers of aircraft parts is inadequate. The FAA is not anywhere near equipped to deal with this kind of global production," says Matt Bates, a spokesman for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. The reference being to the part which apparently is made in China at a plant in Shanghai. Does the FAA have enough authority, enough control to make sure that these parts manufactured overseas for McDonnell Douglas-Boeing are fully inspected and appropriate?</s>GARVEY: Well, I think that's an issue that's being debated more and more, particularly as more and more people travel internationally. In the late '40s, there was a Chicago convention which just celebrated its 50th anniversary recently. And at that Chicago convention, the international -- our international colleagues in the United States laid out some very clear ground rules, what we were responsible for, and what internationally they were responsible for. And in this case, we don't mandate -- and you're absolutely right, we do not mandate those kinds of inspections and so forth. However, our international organization has some very high standards. But I think as we move forward, I think that's going to be an issue that the NTSB will look at and we may make some changes. I will say in the area of safety assessments, in 1992, Congress was very good at giving us the tools to do some assessments of foreign countries in aviation, and that's been very successful. IKO (ph), the international organization, has stepped up in the last year with a lot of help from the United States to set up their own safety assessments and the whole area of co-chairing, which is getting to be more and more an issue. We are establishing guidelines. The secretary announced those in December, we're going to be issuing those very shortly. So more and more there is an emphasis on the foreign carriers and the vast number of Americans who travel.</s>BLITZER: Now, the people who are watching this program around the world, MD-80s are flown by nine U.S. carriers around the world. The order that you mandated for this inspection, the stabilizer, only involves planes that actually land or take off in the United States.</s>GARVEY: You're absolutely right. There are 1,100 of those planes, there are 2,000 in total.</s>BLITZER: So, there are 900 MD-80s that are flying outside of the United States.</s>GARVEY: That's correct. But we expect -- even though we don't mandate it, we absolutely expect the foreign carriers to implement this AD. and we're going to be monitoring that, we expect that to take place and we're going to know mid-week, it will be a little bit longer than Monday, but we will certainly know mid-week the status of those inspections. And we absolutely expect those inspections to take place.</s>BLITZER: If you're a passenger today, about to get on a MD-80 in the United States or around the world, should you ask the pilot before you get on that plane if that part -- that suspected part had been checked?</s>GARVEY: Well, I have to tell you it's probably -- it would be a human tendency to ask the pilot that, and I think that would be very natural. I do want to stress, though, and I think it's important to put it in context, the MD-80's been around since the '80s, has a very strong safety record. And again, I think the airlines are moving very aggressively and cooperating with us to make sure that these inspections are done and will be done this evening with the reporting by mid-day tomorrow.</s>BLITZER: How concerned should the flying public be right now about these MD-80s?</s>GARVEY: I think -- again it's always good to put it in context. I think it's a strong safety record. It's been around for awhile. But I also know that any time there's a terrible accident, statistics, sort of, lose their meaning and that's why we are working so aggressively. I think if someone asks the pilot, that's probably the right thing to do. My guess is that the answer is, it has been inspected.</s>BLITZER: Of the 21 planes -- we only have a few seconds left -- that seem to have reported some problem, whether minor or significant, with the stabilizer, since the inspections were ordered, a disproportionately large number involves Alaska Airlines, which is a relatively small carrier. Is there any suspicion -- any potential area why Alaska Airlines might be reporting more problems than other major carriers?</s>GARVEY: Well, I want to again stress that even with Alaska Airlines, it, sort of, runs the gamut from just normal wear and tear to something more significant. But I think, obviously, in light of the accident, we're taking a very, very careful look with the NTSB at the maintenance records, at the procedures that they have in place. So we are focused on that and I know the NTSB is very much focused on it as well.</s>BLITZER: And the fact that it flies into Alaska, out of Alaska all the time with the snow and cold weather, could that theoretically be a potential problem?</s>GARVEY: I think theoretically you look at everything, you have to look at everything when you have an accident like this, and that's what we're doing.</s>BLITZER: OK, Jane Garvey, the administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, thanks for joining us on</s>LATE EDITION. GARVEY: Thank you.</s>BLITZER: Thank you so much. And just ahead, we'll turn to presidential politics. She was the first lady; could the title first mother be in her future? We'll talk with Barbara Bush about Governor George W. Bush's run for the White House, and ask what she thinks of her son's opponent, John McCain. LATE EDITION -- we'll be right back.