Aviation Safety: FAA's Efforts to Improve Oversight of Foreign Carriers

GAO discussed the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) efforts to improve its oversight of foreign civil aviation safety programs and individual carriers flying into the United States. GAO noted that: (1) although FAA has taken steps to improve its oversight of foreign civil aviation safety programs and carriers, more actions are needed; (2) FAA has assessed the oversight capabilities of 30 foreign civil aviation authorities and the Department of Transportation (DOT) has publicly announced the results of these assessments; (3) FAA is working with foreign aviation authorities to improve their safety oversight programs and increasing the frequency of its inspections of carriers with known safety deficiencies; (4) FAA and the State Department have improved procedures for tracking enforcement cases referred to foreign governments for action; and (5) FAA needs to perform more comprehensive inspections of foreign carriers that have safety problems, inspect U.S.-registered, foreign-operated aircraft before they return to service in the United States, and follow up on safety enforcement actions.