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Summary

On December 15, we issued our audit of FAA's oversight of air carriers' use of non-certificated repair facilities. This audit was requested by Rep. James Oberstar, Ranking Minority on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. We found that although air carriers have used non certificated facilities for years to perform minor or emergency repairs, they are now using these facilities to perform scheduled and critical maintenance. The work performed at these facilities is approved by FAA-certificated mechanics; however, this is not an adequate substitute for the quality control and additional layers of oversight FAA requires at FAA-certificated repair stations. Also, neither FAA nor air carriers are providing oversight of the maintenance work performed at these facilities. FAA generally agreed with our recommendations.