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 EU officials, all EU Member States have complied with this directive or are moving toward full compliance.

1.17.6.2 Federal Aviation Administration

Korean Air was granted authority to operate into U.S. airspace under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 129 and International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Annex 6. The FAA approves operations specifications and assigns a principal operations inspector (POI) to each foreign carrier. The POI assigned to Korean Air at the time of the accident was not qualified in any of the airplanes operated by Korean Air, but no international or FAA provisions require that inspectors be qualified or current in any aircraft operated by the foreign air carrier for which they have responsibility. This POI also provided oversight to six other international air carriers. The POI said that, at the time, it was customary for the FAA to rotate inspectors of foreign air carriers so that each foreign airline was assigned a different inspector every 1 to 2 years.

The POI also said that there was no formal interaction between the KCAB and the FAA regarding oversight of Korean Air. Neither civil aviation authority (CAA) was required to formally or informally exchange reports of inspection activities or safety concerns. The KCAB, however, indicated that it and the FAA have an ongoing exchange of reports on inspection activities, violations, and certificate actions as well as safety concerns. Further, the POI assigned to Korean Air said that the FAA's oversight role for Part 129 operators was to approve operations specifications, inspect trip records and facilities, and accomplish ramp inspections of airplanes and crews when they were in the United States or its territories. The POI also stated that the FAA did not inspect, approve, or provide oversight for a foreign airline's training or operations manuals. The Safety Board has not identified any requirement under the Convention on International Civil Aviation or the Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) that the FAA be provided copies of these manuals. In addition, the POI stated that the FAA did not conduct line checks or en route inspections on board a foreign carrier.

FAA Order 8400.10, "Air Transportation Operations Inspector's Handbook," volume 2, chapter 4, paragraph 297, states that the purpose of surveillance of each foreign air carrier, its aircraft, and its operations is to determine compliance, on a recurrent or rotating basis, with the FARs and the foreign carrier's operations specifications. According to the FAA order, surveillance is conducted if a foreign carrier experiences "a series of accidents, incidents, violations, or complaints (that relate to safety.)" The surveillance includes any "R" (required) items specified in national program guidelines and can also include routine and unannounced ramp inspections.