‘It’s a cover-up from the FAA at the highest level’: Cockpit voice recording can’t be used in investigation, source says

From the San Jose Mercury News:

A top Federal Aviation Administration official has forbidden inspectors who are trying to determine why a Horizon Air commercial jet mistakenly landed on a Pullman, Washington, airport taxiway from reviewing “critical” evidence: recorded cockpit conversations between that flight’s pilots, a federal official familiar with the investigation said. 

The directive came straight from John Duncan, FAA’s head of flight standards who is in charge of the agency’s flight inspectors across the country, said the source, who requested anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the probe. 

Despite the cockpit voice recorder being quarantined by Horizon Air, inspectors investigating the incident have been prevented from listening to the audio of the pilot discussions. 

“It’s a cover-up from the FAA at the highest level,” the source said. “We don’t want this to happen again because next time they could hit someone and people will die.” 

FAA spokesman Ian Gregor declined to comment Friday: “The FAA does not comment on pending investigations.” 

The wayward flight is the latest high-profile airport mishap involving botched landings, including three at San Francisco International Airport — one of which could have resulted in one of the country’s biggest air disasters. 

Experts have said cockpit voice recorders are critical to determining what caused flight crew confusion. In the end, the Dec. 29 incident at Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport ended with the Horizon jet, along with its 38 passengers and four crew members, landing safely with no injuries.

Was the Pilot's name Moahmmed?

Our Federal agencies are out of control. They are our servants. But they obviously believe they are above the law.