When I saw the headline “Lawmakers grill Boeing CEO on safety” (The Columbian, June 19), I wanted to remind others that politicians of both parties were part of the aircraft safety problem.
For many years, some of the same politicians who are now grilling Boeing on safety bowed to political pressure and lobby money to reduce the effectiveness of the Federal Aviation Administration’s oversight of new aircraft safety. This was accomplished by eliminating government-paid FAA inspectors and requiring more and more of the inspections of new planes to be done in-house by Boeing’s own inspection teams. As the FAA got smaller, the quality and safety of new aircraft decreased.
When people talk about smaller government, they rarely if ever mention that the death of hundreds of airline passengers may be an eventual result.
