Michael Whitaker, administrator for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), testified to the Senate on June 13 about Boeing’s implementation of the FAA’s 90-day safety plan, suggesting that the agency was too “hands-off” with the company prior to a January midair incident that triggered further scrutiny.
Mr. Whitaker appeared before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation to discuss the FAA’s oversight of Boeing’s aviation manufacturing following the Jan. 5 Alaska Airlines incident, when a door panel blew off a 737 Max 9 shortly after takeoff.
As a result of the incident, the FAA in February capped production levels on the 737 Max and gave Boeing 90 days to submit a comprehensive safety plan to the agency to ensure manufacturing quality control and prevent further mishaps.
Mr. Whitaker said the production caps remain, Boeing is still producing jets well below the caps, and he doesn’t expect the company to reach a level of compliance in the short term to remove the caps.
The administrator acknowledged that the FAA should have had “much better visibility into what was happening at Boeing before January 5.”
“The FAA’s approach was too hands-off, too focused on paperwork audits, and not focused enough on inspections,” Mr. Whitaker said.
He said the agency has changed its approach over the past several months and that those changes are permanent, including an “audit-plus-inspection approach” to gain better insight into the company’s operations.
“I will personally remain engaged to ensure Boeing executes the necessary changes to transform its safety culture and address its production quality issues,” Mr. Whitaker said.
During opening remarks, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) noted that Mr. Whitaker had identified 97 instances at Boeing “where products did not meet FAA standards.”
She said the FAA instituted the 90-day plan for Boeing to “reform its production quality” but expressed concern that it may not mark the sea change in quality control that the company needs to regain its public reputation.
“I’m struck by a sense of, ‘Is this déjà vu? Are we just back here?’ Or can we have a new day in creating a safety culture that is so critical for the United States to be the leader in manufacturing?” Ms. Cantwell asked.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) also remained skeptical of Boeing’s intentions regarding the FAA’s suggested safety reforms and the agency’s previous oversight of the aerospace company.
“I was very glad to see that the FAA took swift action to ground the 737 Max after the [Jan. 5] accident. However, I remain concerned that the FAA’s oversight of Boeing failed to spot serious production gaps,” he said.
Door Blowout Documents Missing
Mr. Cruz also referenced comments from National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy, who told the senator during a March hearing that Boeing “was missing key documents and records about the specific MAX 9 aircraft involved in the Alaskan Airlines flight.”Mr. Cruz asked the administrator if the FAA had made the same determination in its investigation into Boeing since Jan. 5.
“My understanding is that is true, that they do not exist,” Mr. Whitaker said.
The senator from Texas said he also heard that the security camera footage, which would have shown who worked on the door panel in question, was “overwritten.”
“Boeing doesn’t know who worked on the door plug, and no paperwork exists. Is that all right?” Mr. Cruz asked. “That seems remarkable and shocking.”
Mr. Whitaker confirmed the missing paperwork and camera footage but emphasized that the FAA’s investigation is “ongoing” and also mentioned the Justice Department’s investigation into Boeing, stemming from the fatal 2018 and 2019 737 Max 8 crashes.
While Boeing was granted a deferred prosecution agreement in 2021 to avoid the charges of allegedly defrauding the U.S. government over not disclosing the flight control software blamed for the crashes, the company was required to stay in compliance until Jan. 7, 2024, two days after the Alaska Airlines incident. The Justice Department stated on May 14 that Boeing breached the agreement, a claim that Boeing has denied.
The Justice Department stated that it would announce to the courts its intentions regarding Boeing’s criminal charges no later than July 7.
Ms. Cantwell said that despite Boeing’s public scrutiny after the issues with the 737 Max jets, she remains “very excited” about the future of aviation, including technological breakthroughs into thermoplastics and “next-generation manufacturing that could put the United States in an even more competitive, aggressive position.”
“There’s [sic] lots of great things that we can do for the United States to be world leaders here and really grow manufacturing jobs, but we have to get the safety.”
