Alaska Airlines managers lose appeal, must forfeit mechanic's licenses

The National Transportation Safety Board has unanimously upheld license revocations of two Alaska Airlines managers for intentionally falsifying maintenance records.

The NTSB, in decisions posted on its Web site, recently denied appeals brought by John Nanney and Manuel Diaz, and ordered them to surrender their mechanic's licenses. They both work at Alaska's maintenance center in Oakland, Calif.

In late 1998, Nanney and Diaz were accused of intentionally falsifying maintenance records by a lead mechanic at Alaska, John Liotine. He told the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the FBI that the two Alaska managers were signing for work that hadn't been done or that they weren't authorized to approve.

Alaska disputed Liotine's assertions, calling him a disgruntled worker with a grudge. He sued for slander, reached a $500,000 out-of-court settlement, and left the airline last December.

Alaska also agreed to pay a $44,000 fine imposed by the FAA for violating federal air-safety regulations.

The mechanic's license of a third Alaska manager was suspended for six months as a result of Liotine's allegations.

The license revocations against Nanney and Diaz were sought by the FAA and imposed by an NTSB administrative-law judge. In both cases, the falsification occurred on planes that were due to be released after major maintenance checks. Both men appealed to the full NTSB board, which rejected their appeals.

In a separate review, the safety board is investigating the cause of the Jan. 31, 2000, crash of Alaska Flight 261 in which all 88 passengers and crew were killed.

The board's report on the crash, to be released later this year, is expected to be critical of Alaska's maintenance practices and of the FAA's oversight of the carrier.

Steve Miletich: 206-464-3302 or smiletich@seattletimes.com