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NASA Investigator Harshly Criticizes Agency's Safety Policies

Posted on: Friday, 29 August 2003, 06:00 CDT

Aug. 29--WASHINGTON--The quality-control program at Kennedy Space Center is "essentially nonexistent" and needs a complete review by an independent group before NASA's shuttles return to flight, according to one Columbia accident investigator.

Air Force Brig. Gen. Duane Deal found numerous problems in NASA's quality oversight at KSC, including no formal training for inspectors and a manager who discourages surprise checks on the work carried out by contractors.

Deal, who describes his concerns in a 10-page supplement to the Columbia Accident Investigation Board report that was released Tuesday, wrote that "the manager actually threatened those who had conducted such activity," even though one had discovered equipment not meant for flight installed on board a shuttle.

In addition, Deal describes several other issues that could be major sources of trouble if not resolved, including corrosion of the aging spaceships and problems with the system of explosive bolts that releases the shuttle from the launchpad at liftoff.

Taken altogether, Deal concludes that the lapses are serious enough to be potential sources of another shuttle tragedy and deserve more attention than they were given in the larger CAIB report.

"In my view, we have not done our best to 'prevent the next accident' regarding things we have seen with our own eyes, and that individuals . . . have conveyed to us," wrote Deal, who commands the 21st Space Wing in Colorado and took the lead in interviewing shuttle workers for the CAIB.

KSC did not respond Thursday to inquiries about Deal's comments. But a spokesman at NASA headquarters said the agency will explore his findings.

"We will give serious consideration to any suggestions provided by individual board members that will help us return to safe flight," spokesman Bob Jacobs said.

During the board's seven-month investigation into the Columbia disaster, Deal found quality-control problems at KSC and, to a lesser extent, at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., and the Lockheed Martin Michoud facility near New Orleans, where external fuel tanks are manufactured.

The concerns were expressed repeatedly by managers at all levels and the technicians who work directly on the shuttles, he wrote:

"If they express concerns, and those concerns are consistent throughout the workforce . . . they must be heeded."

Deal's bluntly worded supplement is the first piece of the report's appendices to be made public. Additional releases are expected to include more insights on the causes of the Columbia accident, detailed technical information and supporting documents.

Overall, the CAIB report found Columbia's breakup was caused by foam that came off the shuttle's external tank during launch and struck the wing -- but gave equal weight to the organizational failures that did not recognize the foam-shedding as a danger.

Board members said Thursday that these larger, cultural issues will be more difficult to address than the technical fixes.

"It's going to take time to change culture," said board member James Hallock, who is a top aviation-safety official at the U.S. Department of Transportation. "A lot of people are going to be in denial for a while, and that's normal. [But] I'm optimistic."

Maj. Gen. John Barry, another investigator, said NASA doesn't have a choice but to carry through on the board's 29 recommendations to improve safety. Fifteen of them must be done before the next mission takes off.

"There is no doubt in my mind that with these two very serious [shuttle] mishaps, that NASA has got to change or else it's going to be in some very serious trouble," Barry said. "And I've got every confidence in the world that they have got that message."

Jim Leusner and Kevin Spear of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report from Orlando.

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