In response to suspicion of missed inspections, the FAA is arguing that they are prioritizing needed checks based on “risk analyses” and no critical inspections were missed. FAA spokesperson Diane Spitaliere states, “It is our position that the critical safety issues have been dealt with and are always dealt with first. Some of the less critical ones may not have been accomplished, but we’re currently working to accomplish them.”

The renewed interest in the FAA missed inspections come in the wake of the tragic crash of Continental Express Flight 3407 on February 12th.

The missed inspections are being reported by a government watchdog. They state that the FAA has missed safety inspections at major airlines and that some of the inspections were already two years overdue. Calvin Scovel, the Transportation Department’s inspector general, states, “We have found that these missed inspections were in critical maintenance areas.”  Scovel had previously mentioned missed inspections at Southwest.