FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, June 5, 1998
Contacts:  OIG: Jeff Nelligan, 202-366-6312
FAA: Rebecca Trexler, 202-267-8521
DOT 108-98

U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater today announced that recent inspections and surveillance of commercial air courier shipments have shown increased compliance by air carriers with government procedures for keeping improperly packaged, documentation-deficient and prohibited hazardous materials off passenger-carrying aircraft, but that much improvement remains to be achieved, particularly by air couriers.

"Safety is President Clinton’s highest transportation priority," Secretary Slater said. "We will continue our strict oversight to make sure the American people are not flying with improperly packaged dangerous goods."

Inspections in November and December 1997 by joint teams from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the department’s Office of Inspector General uncovered unacceptably low compliance with security procedures and hazardous materials regulations. Following an intensive outreach and education effort, Secretary Slater directed the joint teams to conduct another round of inspections.

The second round of the review took place in January and showed improvements in compliance rates, but compliance rates for air courier firms were still unacceptable. To ensure that both segments of the industry continue to improve, Slater recommended yet another round of unannounced inspections.

"The airlines and air couriers both must follow their FAA-approved security programs and the Department of Transportation’s hazardous materials regulations to keep these shipments from becoming a threat to safety," said FAA Administrator Jane F. Garvey. "We will continue our emphasis on compliance with these rules."

The department’s Inspector General, Kenneth M. Mead, said that the need for continuing vigilance is the reason why his office is recommending that air couriers be required to certify not only that cargo being offered to an air carrier complies with hazardous materials and dangerous goods regulations but also that their statements are true under the law.

According to Mead, the effect would be to warn air couriers that false statements made to air carriers in conjunction with shipment transactions could result in criminal prosecution and severe penalties.

"We are encouraged by the improvements made by the air carriers but continue to find the record of the air couriers unacceptable," Mead said. "We must remain vigilant and demonstrate our determination to secure compliance with these regulations."

This recommendation, as well as the following, is being reviewed by the Office of the Secretary of Transportation:

• Require air carriers and air couriers to improve the training of their employees to enhance employee understanding of cargo security regulations.

• Facilitate identification of air courier shipments by requiring air couriers to declare themselves when presenting cargo for transport on passenger aircraft.

• Develop and implement a process to assess air couriers’ compliance with cargo security regulations before approving new or reapproving existing air couriers’ standard security programs.

• Develop and implement procedures, and if necessary, amend existing regulations, to allow FAA to withdraw approval of air couriers’ required cargo security programs for air couriers that continually fail to follow air cargo regulations.

Garvey said that, in addition to another round of inspections, the FAA will ensure that air courier transactions are monitored in regularly scheduled air carrier assessments and that selected air courier operations are targeted for focused inspections when FAA’s trend analyses indicate potential problems.

The initial joint review by inspectors from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Office of Inspector General was prompted by an Oct. 1, 1997, incident at the Miami International Airport. In that incident, passengers boarding an American Airlines flight for Ecuador had to be evacuated when noxious fumes permeated the plane’s cabin. The fumes came from a leaking container of pesticide called Dowicide A that was being shipped in the checked bags of a passenger acting as an air courier for Executive Freight Consolidators, Inc., of Miami. Angel Dante Fuentes, president of Executive Freight Consolidators, Inc., has since pleaded guilty in that case to unlawfully shipping hazardous materials.