FAA OFFICIAL GETS SACKED
EFFECT REMAINS TO BE SEEN -
Top FAA Official Is Being Removed From Safety Post
Wednesday, April 25, 2001 12:50 AM ET
WASHINGTON -- One of the top-ranking safety officials at the Federal Aviation Administration is being removed from his job comes amid complaints from airline executives and FAA inspectors about the agency's approach to ensuring airline safety, Wednesday's Wall Street Journal reported.
Nicholas Lacey, who oversees 4,500 inspectors and other aviation-safety workers as the FAA's flight-standards director, is being reassigned within the agency and, according to FAA officials familiar with the decision, will be succeeded by Nick Sabatini, a manager in the agency's field office in Jamaica, N.Y.
Mr. Lacey didn't return calls seeking comment. An FAA spokeswoman said he would be reassigned to work on "key initiatives" in the area of international safety and a 10-year plan to enhance aviation capacity and improve air-traffic procedures.
"Mr. Lacey is a valuable asset to the agency and we want to use his skills in other areas," she said, reading from a statement. "It would be unfair to say that this is the result of pressure from airlines."
Mr. Lacey's reassignment comes as the Transportation Department's Inspector General is preparing a report expected to criticize a two-year-old program that encourages inspectors to spend less time examining individual wings and rivets and more time questioning carriers about their own safety procedures and training.
The program, known as the Air Transportation Oversight System, or ATOS, is supposed to encourage uniform compliance with government regulations as airlines grow larger and the task of inspecting their fleets the old-fashioned way, plane by plane, becomes more daunting. But the new approach has encountered internal resistance since it was introduced. Many local FAA managers and inspectors have complained that there is no need to change the agency's approach to inspections and that the FAA hasn't committed the resources needed to make the new program a success.