How Safe Is That Plane?

The agency also established new guidelines for Air Midwest training documentation. It was Air Midwest, Ballough notes, that operated the Huntington hangar and had the responsibility to provide training for its mechanics.

"The regulatory infrastructure for that type of operation stays in place," he says. "[On] the issue of training, the airline could have done better."

Goglia says the FAA has taken steps to address the issues that led to the Charlotte crash, but more work is needed. A key is that the FAA must ensure that inspectors make regular visits to maintenance bases, wherever they are, he says.

Additionally, rules are needed to firmly establish that airlines keep training records not only for their own employees, but also for repair station employees who work on their planes.

"Manpower places have grown like weeds," Goglia says. "The FAA needs to be sure it has access to the records of the personnel that they provide to maintenance organizations."