SAS Group has accepted criticism from the Danish national audit office after it turned up several instances of the company's operating aircraft beyond the deadline for mandatory inspections.
The audit office, Rigsrevisionen, has identified 20 instances in which the carrier group overran time periods defined in airworthiness directives.
In an August audit report on aviation monitoring, Rigsrevisionen says that, during 2006-09, SAS carried out more than 11,000 such "irregular" flights.
Given the importance of airworthiness regulations, say the report, the matter is a "serious" one.
SAS Group states that it has implemented a "wide range" of initiatives and measures to avoid repetition of the errors. It has tightened quality-assurance procedures and restructured the departments responsible for maintenance planning and execution.
It says it acknowledges that the aircraft were "formally not airworthy", although it insists the oversight had "no impact on flight safety".
"It is very unfortunate that we, sometimes, have not lived up to our own very high standards," says SAS senior vice-president Flemming Jensen. "This responsibility lies with SAS."
He points out that Rigsrevisionen and the country's civil aviation authority have determined that SAS' response to the findings is satisfactory.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
