ASSEMBLYMEMBER TED LIEU
53RD ASSEMBLY DISTRICT
For Immediate Release: March 12, 2008
Contact: Ashlie Simpson
Phone: (916) 319-2053

Assemblyman Lieu Condemns FAA for Allowing Southwest Airlines to Fly Unsafe Jets

Assemblyman Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) issued the following response to the recent announcement regarding the grounding of 43 jets because they were structurally unsound. The FAA has also recently come under fire for failing to ground Southwest jets which agency inspectors knew to have missed scheduled inspections:

"The recent disclosures that the Federal Aviation Administration has allowed Southwest Airlines to fly 60,000 flights without adequate safety inspections confirms two facts: one, the FAA prioritizes industry profits above passenger safety, and two, there is no Easter Bunny. People who are surprised by the one are presumably surprised by the other.

For full disclosure, I note that I paraphrased the above quote from Congressman Barney Frank’s statement a few months ago regarding the lack of a Santa Claus in regards to the Federal Reserve and the mortgage foreclosure crisis."