Report Urges Hazmat Inspection Improvement

[Rose Siding]

WASHINGTON - The government needs to do a better job monitoring and inspecting hazardous materials shipped aboard airlines, according to a report released Friday by the Transportation Department's inspector general.

How well the Federal Aviation Administration (news - web sites) monitors dangerous cargo came into question after the 1996 ValuJet crash in the Everglades, which killed 110 people. The accident was blamed on a fire caused by illegal shipment of oxygen generators in the cargo hold.

Since then, the report said, "the FAA (news - web sites)'s enforcement of hazmat regulations has been in flux." It criticized the agency for reviewing paperwork to make sure shippers and air carriers are properly declaring hazardous materials, without conducting covert tests to make sure airlines are handling them properly.

The report, by Assistant Inspector General Alexis Stefani, said the FAA also takes too long to enforce hazardous materials cases

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