FAA closes investigation into Las Cruces airport with warning

LAS CRUCES — On June 29, 2023, an aircraft took evasive action to avoid colliding with a maintenance vehicle adjacent to a runway at Las Cruces International Airport.

That incident was among the 52 findings released to the city last month following a Federal Aviation Administration investigation into the airport’s management and compliance with ground safety procedures.

The FAA concluded a four-month investigation into the municipal airport last month with a letter of warning that outlined dozens of instances where it said the city had not followed requirements for Part 139 certification, which permits the airport to support commercial flights.

Potential enforcement actions could include fines for each day an airport is in violation, limitations on where air carriers can operate or even revocation.

While saying the issues did not merit legal enforcement, FAA investigators determined that a negative work environment and an “organizational culture void of shared values, beliefs, and behaviors relative to the work environment” contributed to poor compliance with federal regulations.

”...Airport management appeared uninformed, not engaged, and even presented a lack of awareness relative to the many Airport Certification Program issues at (the airport),” the agency stated in a letter where it was not always clear when “management” referred to airport staff or the City Manager’s Office.

The FAA made contact with the city in May following allegations of noncompliance centering on a city maintenance worker, assigned to ground operations at the airport, who allegedly breached policies or exhibited poor security judgment in multiple instances.

The agency’s Sept. 16 warning letter from Safety and Standards Branch Manager Denson Stasher in Fort Worth, Texas, also addressed issues of noncompliance dating back to 2017, for which the agency said it had previously offered airport management advice and training “with little to no success.”

Airport director Andy Hume provided the FAA with training records, communications with employees, incident reports and job descriptions for workers with duties in the aircraft movement area. Hume also detailed violations of federal regulations and airport policy by the maintenance worker and corrective actions before he reassigned the worker away from the regulated area.

Hume reported that the reassignment led to conflict earlier this year with the City Manager’s Office, which pressed Hume to restore the worker to duty on the airfield and in the movement area. When Hume balked, he told the FAA, the city issued a written reprimand and suspended Hume for three days. The worker’s access to regulated areas was restored, overruling Hume’s decision.

The city declined to comment or release written communications it said pertained to matters of opinion about personnel matters. It confirmed that Hume still serves as the airport’s director but did not address questions about the maintenance worker’s current duties.

Among the 52 findings identified in the warning letter, the agency reported that the maintenance worker had repeatedly made unauthorized entries to the runway safety area for mowing without required notifications or closures.

While noting efforts by Hume to resolve the issues presented by the employee, the FAA identified a broader pattern over several years in which “poor or insufficient management oversight” of airport certification requirements were exacerbated by a “disconnect between management and staff” and “cliques” that contributed to a negative work environment.

The findings address incidents from 2017 through July 15 of this year, including gaps in maintenance requirements, discrepancies or gaps in training requirements, missed inspections, missing plans or updates, issues with fueling procedures and fuel trucks by a fixed base operator at the airport and an instance of noncompliance with fire code in 2024.

The warning letter contemplates no further action concerning the airport’s certification, acknowledging that the city had initiated corrective actions and promised to update safety management planning and procedures for identifying and correcting noncompliance.

In its written response, dated Sept. 19, the city vowed to take “extra steps” to ensure compliance with regulations and reporting requirements, with new safety management planning.

”We are fully committed to correcting the culture at the Las Cruces International Airport,” interim Assistant City Manager David Sedillo wrote, “and will take all necessary steps to ensure that … we are implementing best practices to guarantee safety to airport staff, vendors, tenants, travelers, and the public as a whole.”