VALUJET AGREES TO GROUND FLEET AFTER FAA PROBE.

Byline: Laura Meckler Associated Press 

ValuJet Airlines agreed to temporarily halt its operations Monday after a federal inspection found ``several serious deficiencies'' in the low-cost carrier's operations, Federal Aviation Administration chief David Hinson said.

``We asked them to cease operations, and they agreed to do so,'' Hinson said about six hours before the suspension was to take effect.

ValuJet called the action ``grossly unfair'' because it was unable to respond to the FAA concerns raised during an intensive 30-day investigation that included about 2,000 inspections. The airline said it hopes to resume service within 30 days.

The FAA's intense investigation was launched the day after the May 11 crash of Flight 592 into the Florida Everglades. All 110 people on board the DC-9 were killed.

Hinson said Atlanta-based ValuJet had failed to establish the airworthiness of some of its airplanes.

The FAA administrator cited deficiencies in ValuJet's maintenance program and its engineering capability. In particular, he said there were ``multiple shortcomings'' in its quality control over the contractors it hired to do some of the maintenance work.

``The agency's 30-day intensive inspection found several serious deficiencies in ValuJet's operations,'' Hinson said.

The shutdown of operations was set for 9 p.m. PDT Monday.

Hinson said the FAA eventually would have found the problems with ValuJet that led to the grounding, even if the Everglades crash had never occurred.

``It would have taken somewhat longer because we would not have had such a focused inspection,'' he said.

He said the airline will halt operations until it can demonstrate ``appropriate corrective action.'' He did not estimate how long that will take.

Hinson said the FAA and ValuJet agreed in writing to a number of issues that must be addressed to the agency's satisfaction, but he did not release that list. He said he could not say whether there was any agreement for specific ValuJet managers to step down.

``ValuJet has already begun its return-to-service plan,'' ValuJet President Lewis Jordan said in a statement. ``But at this moment we cannot tell you exactly when we will resume service, or with how many flights.''

He said ValuJet will provide full refunds for customers with bookings for flights today and beyond.

Hinson told reporters that the FAA understands that ceasing operations will ``inevitably cause disruption'' for travelers. But he added, ``safety is obviously the highest priority.''

ValuJet said it would provide more information today about the status of airline employees and about the steps it is taking to resume operations.

ValuJet began operating on Oct. 26, 1993, offering discount fares that attracted passengers from the major carriers. In 2-1/2 years of operation, it grew to serve 31 cities in 19 states. Its aircraft fleet grew to more than 50 planes with an average age of 25 years, among the oldest in the industry.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the May 11 crash. Authorities suspect that hazardous oxygen canisters may have caught fire and brought the plane down minutes after it left Miami International Airport on a flight to Atlanta.

Hinson and Transportation Secretary Federico Pena declared after the crash that ValuJet was safe. Hinson said Monday that he did not regret making those statements.

``The airline was deemed to be safe. That decision was based on evidence at the time,'' he said.

But an aviation consultant said the FAA acted too slowly.

``It's the old story with the FAA: What took them so long?'' David Stempler said. ``This is as much an indictment of the FAA as it is of ValuJet. After all, it is the FAA's job to protect airline passengers from airlines like this.''

The FAA came under fire in April during a Senate hearing when inspectors and government officials testified that FAA inspectors are poorly trained to detect problems in aircraft.

Stempler noted that permitting ValuJet to halt operations voluntarily makes it easier for them to resume business. If the agency had used an emergency revocation instead, the airline would then have had to complete the entire process of certification to fly again.

FAA officials were investigating ValuJet even before the Everglades crash. A preliminary report on the airline, completed May 6, uncovered at least 100 problems, FAA Assistant Administrator Anthony Broderick said.

When inspectors began reviewing ValuJet earlier this year, they found mechanics unfamiliar with the equipment they were working on, and cases in which work that hadn't even been started was reported as complete.

In one case, an inspector came across a mechanic using a hammer and chisel to remove a stubborn engine part. Lacking a current maintenance manual, the worker didn't know a special tool was needed.

In another instance, mechanics reported that the damaged tail skid of a plane had been fixed. Passengers were boarding the aircraft when an FAA inspector realized the work hadn't been done.

Other recent FAA groundings have involved smaller companies.

Kiwi International Air Lines, based in Newark, N.J., was suspended for four days in December 1994 for failing to document pilot training. In March 1995, Miami-based Arrow Air halted operations after the FAA charged that it was not complying with safety directives.

TROUBLED HISTORY A review of ValuJet's problems this year:

June 17: ValuJet agrees to temporarily halt operations at midnight after a federal inspection found ``several serious deficiencies'' in the operations. No date given for resumption.

June 14: ValuJet announces talks with the FAA that could result in the carrier using fewer types of aircraft, reducing the carrier's fleet from 51 to about 35.

June 2: ValuJet cuts its schedule by half from 320 daily flights to about 160. The airline also reduces advance-purchase requirements for lowest fares from 21 days to seven.

May 31: Fifty ValuJet flight attendants resign, more than three times the average monthly turnover rate.

May 30: ValuJet offers voluntary unpaid leaves of absence to many of its 4,000 employees to cut costs.

May 11: A ValuJet DC-9 bound for Atlanta plunges into the Florida Everglades shortly after leaving Miami, killing all 110 people aboard.

May 6: The FAA completes the investigation it launched in February, finding at least 100 problems from insufficient inspection procedures to poor record keeping.

Feb. 28: A ValuJet DC-9 rolls off the runway after landing at Savannah International Airport in Georgia. Passengers evacuate safely.

Feb. 1: A tire bursts on a ValuJet DC-9, forcing passengers and crew to evacuate after landing in Nashville, Tenn.

Jan. 26: A ValuJet plane skids off an Atlanta runway and gets stuck in the mud. Passengers have to be bused to the terminal.

Jan. 12: A DC-9 slides into a snowbank at Dulles International Airport outside Washington. Nobody hurt.

CAPTION(S):

Photo, Box

Photo: (color) A ValuJet employee removes flight times at Logan International Airport in Boston. The airline was to halt operations Monday.

Associated Press

Box: TROUBLED HISTORY (see text)