Inspector General - More Criticism of FAA & Boeing
Seattle Times (website) reporting that Inspector General of Dep't of Transportation is issuing another report pertaining to the 737 MAX debacle, on Thursday (Feb. 25). Evidently this is the final report of the IG, completing the process that earlier led to an initial report (discussed on the forum on one of the MAX threads, IIRC).
Quoting the first five paragraphs from the website (by-line of Dominic Gates):
The final report by the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Transportation highlights failures that led the FAA to miss the flaws in the MAX’s new flight control system during certification of the jet in 2015 and 2016.
The Seattle Times obtained a copy ahead of the report’s official release.
“Much work remains to address weaknesses in FAA’s certification guidance and processes,” the report concludes. “FAA has not yet taken sufficient steps to ensure it best targets its … oversight to the highest-risk areas.”
The report makes 14 specific recommendations to address those weaknesses, changes it says are “vital to restore confidence in FAA’s certification process and ensure the highest level of safety in future certification efforts of major passenger aircraft.”
The FAA received a copy of the report in December and has already agreed to implement all the recommendations on a set timeline
In possibly related news, on Feb. 19 the incoming Chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation (Sen. Maria Cantwell, D.-Wash.) announced the redesignation of one of the subcommittees, which now will be the Subcommittee on Aviation Safety, Operations, and Innovation. It is suggested by a few sources that this is more than nomenclature or semantics, and instead reflects an increasing legislative focus on the designated subject matter areas. Which would make sense, in light of the passage at the end of the previous Congress of legislation reforming FAA in various potentially if not actually already significant ways (the Aircraft Certification, Safety, and Accountability Act).
Even an SLF/atty is not usually naive enough to think things improve quickly based on what your Friendly Federal Government does or does not do, but then steps in the right direction are better than when they're wrong.