FAA Seeks Record Fine From Eastern Airlines

WASHINGTON — The Federal Aviation Administration said Friday that it is seeking a record $9.5 million in fines against Eastern Airlines for safety and record-keeping violations that could have led to a shutdown of the nation’s third-largest air carrier.

FAA documents showed that the agency threatened to suspend Eastern’s operating certificate unless the company agreed by Friday that it would satisfy concerns raised by the agency. Eastern Chairman Frank Borman provided written assurances Thursday of the airline’s commitment to comply with the concerns raised in a March 7 letter.

The FAA letter said: “We are prepared to issue an immediately effective order suspending Eastern Airlines’ air carrier operating certificate unless, by 12 noon on Friday, March 14, we have received the written commitment” that Eastern would comply with all government regulations.

Monitoring Progress

The agency announced that it has assigned a special technical team “to monitor, on a daily basis, progress made in achieving completion of the corrective action required of Eastern Airlines.”

Borman’s pledge to take corrective actions demanded by the FAA followed a meeting Thursday in Miami at which the company informed agency officials that changes are under way, including plans to correct maintenance deficiencies in 53 areas cited after a detailed, three-month FAA investigation. Some of the alleged violations took place as early as 1981.

Reached by telephone in Miami, Eastern spokesman Jerry Cosley denounced as “a pure hatchet job” the proposed $9.5-million penalty, which would be more than six times the largest fine previously levied by the FAA--a $1.5-million penalty paid by American Airlines last September.

The FAA action was part of a continuing series of inspections that the agency initiated in the wake of commercial aviation disasters last year that resulted in nearly 2,000 deaths worldwide.

Alleged Violations

The basic categories of alleged violations were: deferral of maintenance; failure to conduct inspections or repairs ordered by FAA; failure to keep adequate records of responses to FAA directives; permitting flights without required equipment, and failure to follow manufacturers’ maintenance manuals.

One of the more serious charges involved continued use of a plane’s landing-gear linkage that the FAA had condemned in 1968. The Boeing 727’s landing gear failed Jan. 16 as it landed at Norfolk, Va.

Each violation is punishable by a fine of up to $1,000, according to the severity of the infraction. Although Borman has announced Eastern’s readiness to comply with the FAA demands, airline and FAA officials are expected to hold a meeting in Washington on Monday that could pave the way for negotiations leading to reduction of the fine.

Rep. Norman Y. Mineta (D-San Jose), chairman of the House Public Works and Transportation aviation subcommittee, said he was pleased that FAA Administrator Donald D. Engen is “being aggressive on the safety front.”

Even without being shut down, Eastern is already struggling to pay off a $2.5-billion debt and make up for a $37.9-million loss sustained in 1984. Employees have taken pay cuts, and Eastern management has initiated a move to sell the company to Texas Air Corp., which owns 40% of Eastern’s stock.