PILOT PROBLEMS

Cracks in the system allow some pilots with histories of problems to continue to fly.

One chief cargo pilot, Jody Rex Pond, had been convicted in December 1985 for conspiracy and distribution of cocaine. He was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison, with six years suspended, records say. The FAA later moved to revoke his license, but gave it back in 1991, citing his "substantial progress towards rehabilitation."

Yet after Pond was involved in an accident while landing in Anchorage, Alaska, in 1998, the FAA did not test him for drugs, NTSB records show.

In January 2001, a Douglas DC-3 piloted by Pond, 53, crashed into mountains near Unalaska, Alaska, killing him and his girlfriend, the 39-year-old first officer. Pond had cocaine in his system.

"There's no regulation that's perfect, but I think we do an outstanding job," said Dr. Frederick Tilton, the FAA's Federal Air Surgeon.

Three years later, another Alaska cargo crash raised questions anew.

That veteran chief pilot had a history of cocaine and alcohol arrests. Yet after he landed on the Anchorage taxiway in early 2004 he was not tested for drugs. Five months later, he fatally crashed near Kodiak, Alaska, with cocaine in his system. The NTSB cited the FAA's "inadequate medical certification of the pilot and follow-up of his known substance abuse problem'' as a contributor to the crash.

Despite the industry's competitive cutthroat culture, the FAA has repeatedly failed to stop unsafe cargo operations -- until tragedy strikes. Even then, it has yet to fully address long-term safety issues pushed by advocates.

A 2000 crash in California revealed shaky FAA oversight of a cargo operator blatantly skirting safety rules: Emery Worldwide Airlines.

In September 1998, Capt. Thomas G. Rachford, chairman of the Airline Pilots Association Council 110 and an Emery pilot, sent an FAA official in California a letter telling of "crews pushed to fly exhausted . . . cargo doors opening, engines flaming out, engines burning up."

''I can't say it any clearer: This airline is going to put a hole in the ground and kill someone. Please do not let this fall upon deaf ears."

In January 1999, the FAA detailed ''serious trends of noncompliance'' by Emery.

"Get the freight to its destination and quit griping or disciplinary action will ensue!'' the memo quoted an Emery director. The FAA vowed to crack down on Emery, saying it would require the company to fully comply with safety rules within 30 days.

Yet by September 1999, some pilots still were desperate. "Mechanics are forced to sign off items in the logbooks for fear of their jobs," Rachford wrote the FAA.

Emery crews, he wrote, ''are living on borrowed time."

In January 2000, the FAA placed Emery under heightened oversight. Inspectors would ultimately find more than 100 violations of aviation regulations -- a systemic breakdown including unairworthy planes, inadequate repairs and unapproved aircraft alterations.