For instance, during Congressional hearings last month, FAA inspectors said that when they tried to blow the whistle on airlines routinely flying planes in need of safety checks, they were stifled by higher-ups:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/ar...

"When they attempted to report those issues to officials higher up the FAA chain of command, they were harassed, threatened and even punished, they said.

"They also said the FAA had gone from aggressively regulating airlines to treating them like customers or clients. Lawmakers and outside safety experts have expressed similar worries about regulators' coziness with the carriers."