The "L" word

Air Safety Week, Jan 10, 2005

Saying she was reluctant to use the term "lobbying," National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairman Ellen Engleman Conners nonetheless said her agency was "lobbied from all sides" during the course of the investigation into the Nov. 12, 2001, fatal crash of American Airlines [AMR] Flight 587. She cited in particular American Airlines and Airbus, manufacturer of the A300-600 involved in the crash.

The airline and the manufacturer were among the designated parties that traditionally play a role in such investigations. In this case, the stakes were high, with American's pilot training under a microscope and Airbus' rudder system design under scrutiny. The liability implications were enormous, and both parties aggressively argued their respective positions (see ASW, March 29, 2004).

The liability issue involves apportionment. That is, once a total amount is determined, the apportionment of that amount between the airline, manufacturer, suppliers, etc., becomes the issue. The course of an ongoing investigation, and the direction in which it is likely headed regarding probable cause, can affect deliberations over apportionment, hence party activity to "shape" the investigation.

In the Flight 587 case, Engleman Conners likened the parties' efforts to "gerbil cage" activity, and the pet rodent's penchant to run on the exercise wheel.

"Once we have heard it once," she said, referring to the parties' particular position, "repetition without additional information does not support the message."

Engleman Conners said the parties' efforts to put the best face on their respective interpretations delayed completion of the investigation.

A similar case comes to mind involving an aircraft rudder system, the Sept. 8, 1994, fatal crash of USAir Flight 427 near Aliquippa, Penn. That crash involved a Boeing [BA] B737-300, and a similar debate between the parties as to whether pilot control inputs or an uncommanded rudder movement caused the crash. It took roughly four and a half-years for the NTSB to complete its investigation (see ASW, March 29, 1999).

In the case of Flight 587, the board completed its investigation in slightly less than three and a half years (see ASW, Nov. 1, 2004). In other words, in cases of comparable technical complexity and intense party activity (with the difference of a foreign manufacturer being involved in the latter instance), the Flight 587 investigation was completed in a year's less time than the Flight 427 case.

There is an obvious means of mitigating Engleman Conners' concern about lobbying. To cut down on the lobbying, speed up the investigation. Indeed, early in her tenure, Engleman Conners expressed exactly that desire - to complete major investigations (such as Flights 427 and 587) in two years.

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