Originally Posted by
GlobalNav
Normally, I think, the grounding reduces immediate risk, but the pressure to approve a fix and get the airplanes flying is stronger than ever. Not sure, but I feel encouraged that the third party scrutiny by DOJ and DoT investigations might make things a bit more transparent. We’ll see.
Considering how blame tends to be assigned, I wouldn’t want to be an FAA or Boeing certification engineer right now. When the delegation and oversight processes are scrutinized, management (current and retired) will skillfully deflect responsibility.
The aviation world might be better served in terms of transparency if the involved players were not under threat of criminal prosecution which will cause them to lawyer up more than they already have, allow them to clam up for fear of self-incrimination, and overall delay discovery that would enable a safer future. There may well have been profound negligence on the part of BA and the FAA, but short of a smoking gun email, I would doubt criminal intent.
Three hundred counts of manslaughter, conspiracy to commit murder, ....do we really want to go there?