Safety violations discovered in six Eastern Airlines planes during an unprecedented federal inspection involved mechanical problems that occur daily, a spokeswoman for the company said. The Federal Aviation Administration forced Eastern to take the planes out of service Thursday, the second day of an inspection of the company's 267 aircraft. An FAA spokesman characterized the safety flaws as ``minor violations.'' ``We have 1,400 flights a day, and every day you're going to have so many mechanical problems,'' company spokeswoman Paula Musto said. ``They would have been found on this day or another day, and more than likely they would have been found by Eastern's own mechanics. But we have people looking over our shoulder now.'' In Minneapolis, an Atlanta-bound flight filled with passengers was unloaded because of a fuel leak. Eastern had cleared the plane for takeoff, but FAA inspectors refused to let it fly, NBC News reported. Two other planes were also taken out of service because of minor fuel leaks, said Bob Buckhorn, FAA spokesman in Washington. One plane was sidelined by cut tires and another by a problem with emergency escape path markings in the cabin, Buckhorn said. ``You're talking minor violations,'' he said. Late Thursday a sixth plane was taken out of service when an inch-long crack was discovered in the skin of a plane in St. Louis, said FAA spokesman John Leyden. He said it was not a serious problem. The airline can return the planes to service as soon as the problems are corrected. ``If (inspectors) find any irregularities, they bring them to the attention of the airline, who then takes the planes out of service until they fix them properly,'' said FAA spokesman Jack Barker in Atlanta. Barker said 54 other planes that had been checked as part of the inspection program were ruled safe for flying. Ms. Musto said she didn't know whether the planes cited for violations had been repaired. The 30-day inspection of all Eastern planes began Wednesday after the FAA fined the company $823,000 for safety violations. U.S. Transportation Secretary Jim Burnley said officials have been unsatisfied with Eastern's performance since its takeover in 1986 by Texas Air Corp., which will undergo a 30-day inspection of its operating practices. Texas Air, which commands a fifth of the nation's air travel market, also owns Continental Airlines, which has recently absorbed Frontier Airlines, People Express and New York Air. The government's financial probe will examine the corporation's management and business practices and the relationships between the parent and the two airlines, said B. Wayne Vance, general counsel for the Department of Transportation. Around Eastern's Miami home base, passengers and travel agents said the inspection and new fines were worrisome. ``Some of my customers already don't want to fly on Eastern anymore,'' said Isabel Chalen, owner of the Four Corners Travel Agency in Miami Beach. However, Eastern spokeswoman Karen Ceremsak said there has been no drop in bookings. The FAA said its unprecedented inspection of Eastern planes will include ``ramp checks'' of all of the carrier's aircraft. ``It's a visual inspection of the aircraft while it's parked at the gate. The inspectors also will look at the log book, to make sure the entries are correctly entered, they will check the emergency equipment and that's basically what we're looking at,'' said Roger Myers, an FAA spokesman in Atlanta.
