BA Boeing Co

By Doug Cameron 

The Federal Aviation Administration's certification of the Boeing Co. 737 MAX was effective and the plane wouldn't have been safer if it had been scrutinized as an all-new aircraft, according to an independent panel set up last year to evaluate the troubled jet.

The special committee created by the U.S. Department of Transportation to review the FAA's safety-approval process backed the continued delegation of some work to aircraft makers, though the committee also called for the agency's staffing to be expanded to improve its oversight.

The panel -- headed by retired Air Force Gen. Darren McDew, former head of the U.S. Transportation Command, and Lee Moak, former president of the Air Line Pilots Association -- provided its initial report on Thursday.

The six-month study called for a range of improvements including stepped-up analysis of human factors that could lead pilots to act differently in the cockpit versus existing assumptions.

The FAA took five years to certify the 737 MAX 8, the first version of the plane and the one involved in two fatal crashes. That time period is at the lower end of scrutiny of new aircraft types or derivatives.

The MAX was certified as a derivative rather than an all-new plane, the 13th time the FAA has updated an approval first issued in 1967.

The panel said evaluating the MAX as an all-new plane wouldn't have produced "more rigorous scrutiny" or "a safer airplane." It said the FAA retained design approval of the flight-control system that has been linked to two fatal MAX crashes.

The plane remains grounded world-wide.

"We will study these recommendations closely as we continue to work with government and industry stakeholders to enhance the certification process," Boeing said in a statement.

The panel is one of various probes already under way delving into how rigorously FAA officials followed and enforced mandatory standards in endorsing the safety of the planes, which entered service in May 2017.

Justice Department prosecutors, in conjunction with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the DOT inspector general's office, are looking into whether the plane maker provided incomplete or misleading information to regulators regarding the aircraft.

The FAA has launched a separate inquiry to determine whether certification rules and procedures were properly followed. And the DOT inspector general has launched still another effort, by conducting an audit of FAA decisions regarding 737 MAX certification.

In addition, House and Senate committees embarked on hearings and inquiries looking into certification of the 737 MAX.

Write to Doug Cameron at doug.cameron@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 16, 2020 10:36 ET (15:36 GMT)

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