FAA inspectors need training, inspector general says
     WASHINGTON - November 27, 1997 07:17 a.m. EST - Federal Aviation
 Administration officials are developing a training program for air-
 plane inspectors after an audit found some were ill-prepared for
 their jobs. The Transportation Department's inspector general re-
 ported that a number of employees who check maintenance and elec-
 trical systems had taken no training courses before joining the FAA
 or since being hired.
     And workers who had been trained may not have taken additional
 courses to learn about any changes in the systems they were
 inspecting.
     "With rapid changes in technology, inspectors' effectiveness is
 diminished without current training in the aircraft they are assigned
 to inspect," reported Lawrence H. Weintrob, assistant inspector
 general for auditing.
     The inspector general said there should be specific training
 requirements for inspectors.
     FAA spokeswoman Kathryn Creedy said Wednesday that the agency
 agreed with the recommendations and would have a new training pro-
 gram by the end of 1998. The FAA also has created a course to teach
 inspectors about new systems and offered it in a number of places
 across the country, she said.
     The inspector general looked at the training given to 39 inspec-
 tors at two FAA sites. Of the 39 inspectors, 15 had not taken a
 training course since joining the agency, and seven had never had
 any training at all on the systems they were examining. In addition,
 16 of the 39 did not take any training courses in maintenance or
 electrical systems during the last three years.
     The inspector general's audit was the second report this week
 critical of the FAA.
     Earlier, the General Accounting Office, the investigative agency
 of Congress, said inadequate recordkeeping prevented the agency from
 making sure aircraft repair stations are correcting problems uncov-
 ered by federal investigators.
     The FAA said it was working to improve its supervision of the
 stations, which repair and maintain U.S. airplanes. There are about
 2,500 repair stations in the United States and 270 overseas licensed
 by the agency.
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