spacetoday.net: Congress, CAIB criticize NASA on shuttle safety

Posted: Sun, May 18, 2003, 2:49 PM ET (1849 GMT)
STS-107 patch (NASA)

Members of Congress as well as the chairman of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) criticized NASA for lax shuttle safety standards last week. During a hearing of the Senate Commerce Committee about the shuttle investigation last Wednesday, CAIB chairman Harold Gehman said that NASA's safety organization "on paper is perfect", but upon closer examination "there's no 'there' there." Gehman noted in particular that the NASa safety office doesn't have a big enough technical staff to conduct the thorough safety assessments required for flight readiness reviews. Several times during the hearing Gehman corrected statements made earlier in the hearing by NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe, including one where O'Keefe claimed that foam damage had been found on only four shuttle flights; Gehman noted that every shuttle flight has some record of foam debris damage. O'Keefe did say, under questioning from committee chairman Sen John McCain, that NASA would hold people accountable for their actions related to the loss of Columbia once the CAIB completes its report.