Mary Schiavo

During her time as Inspector General at the Department of Transportation from 1990 to 1996, Mary Schiavo created quite a stir: Headlines, enemies, and last but not least much needed changes. Being a lawyer and a pilot the new “sherif” of the transportation industry was soon disturbed by what she considered to be serious holes in the safety net of the airline industry. She immediately set out to investigate disturbing accusations of fraud, poor management, waste, abuse, corruption, and double-dealing within the airline industry and the FAA, The Federal Aviation Administration.

She found a deeply rooted internal practice of denial and concealment, a shocking lack of concern for the safety of passengers, and a deliberate acceptance of substandard work, maintenance, parts, supervision, and safety procedures. These findings have become evident through numerous aircraft disasters such as the tragic ValuJet hull loss in Florida and TWA 800 in New York. These two accidents claimed the lives of 109 and 230 people respectively.

In 1997, one year after she had resigned as Inspector General out of sheer frustration, Mary Schiavo published the book “Flying Blind, Flying Safe.” – what you don’t know, won’t hurt you, would be another way of putting it. The book instantly made Mary Schiavo one of Ameracia’s best known and highest profiled whistleblowers. The renowned Time Magazine spent no less than 10 pages on the book and it’s revelations of American aviation authorities as being incompetent, corrupt, and ineffective, causing the death of hundreds of airline passengers.

Mary Schiavo is now a lawyer with a firm specializing in trying cases for those who have lost loved ones in aircraft accidents.

You can buy Mary Schiavos book here