Video: Southwest Airlines under fire

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SEATTLE - Southwest Airlines is under fire for ignoring safety rules and putting older planes in the air without performing mandatory safety tests.

The FAA says passengers and flight crews were put at risk, and now it wants to fine the airline a record $10 million.

For at least 10 days last year, the FAA says Southwest Airlines continued to fly 117 planes in direct violation of a federal order that grounded them until they could pass mandatory inspections.

FAA documents show some of the aircraft actually operated unsafely and illegally for as long as 30 months before they were pulled from service to be checked for cracks in the airframe or for rudder problems.

The inspection orders - allegedly ignored by Southwest - were put in place after three fatal crashes all involving the Boeing 737, which prompted the FAA to demand regular checks of the rudder system and cracks in the plane's body.

When the Southwest planes were finally inspected, six jets were found to have cracks up to 4 inches in the fuselage.

What's worse -- the documents gathered by a house committee reveal some managers at the FAA knew the planes were flying illegally and did nothing about it.

"This is the most serious lapse in aviation safety at the FAA that I've seen in 23 years," said Rep. James Oberstar, (D) Transportation Chairman.

Senator Patty Murray called the violations "grotesque" and demanded to know why it took the FAA so long to discover them.

Southwest insists the planes were safe and says it will fight the FAA's penalty.