Panel Clears 737 MAX's Safety-Approval Process at FAA
January 16 2020 - 10:51AM
Dow Jones News
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)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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