How Safe Is That Plane?

Editor's note: This is the first article in a series examining the growing trend of outsourced aircraft maintenance.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The last maintenance-related fatal commercial aviation accident involving a major U.S. carrier occurred more than four years ago, when a Beech 1900D crashed just after takeoff from Charlotte, killing all 21 people on board.

Considering that more than 40 million flights have departed and arrived at their destinations since, domestic airlines have continued to build on the enviable record of safety that already existed prior to the incident in January 2003.

However, at the same time, a number of carriers have dramatically increased their dependence on outside contractors to perform their maintenance rather than relying on in-house employees, and that's raising not insignificant safety issues. ...