Originally Posted by
Speed of Sound
That makes as much (or as little) sense as saying that banks and financial institutions should regulate themselves as they have the most intimate knowledge of their systems.
No it's not really the same. While some areas of banking especially in derivatives can be quite complex, most financial auditors have the same level of skills as the bankers. Unethical banking activities are easily managed with robust procedures, a strong back office, and reviews of management. Banks self-regulate all the time. That is how banking risk is managed, and those processes can be externally audited.
In the same way proper oversight of self-certification can occur with rigorous auditing of the self-certification procedures and documentation, combined with technical testing. It is feasible if it is properly overseen. One very effective way is to require full time auditors to work inside Boeing but are independent of Boeing. Shipping has been doing that for a long long time and bank in the US are doing it. Just because self-certification may have failed in this instance it doesn't mean that self-certification is a failure. It's just been poorly implemented. External certification can be just as fallible.