Page 16 - AHATA

A2 UP FRONT
Thursday 28 March 2019
FAA defends its reliance on aircraft makers to certify jets

By TOM KRISHER, DAVID month.
KOENIG and MARCY GOR- Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who
DON chaired the hearing, said
Associated Press the "close relationship be-
WASHINGTON (AP) — Un- tween industry and regula-
der fire from lawmakers on tors" threatens to erode the
Capitol Hill over the two confidence of the flying
deadly Boeing crashes, public.
the head of the Federal Transportation Secretary
Aviation Administration Elaine Chao, who oversees
on Wednesday defended the FAA, has asked Scovel
the agency's practice of to look into the way the
relying on aircraft makers agency certified the Max
to help certify their own as airworthy. Also, the Jus-
planes for flight. tice Department is inves-
Acting FAA Administra- tigating possible criminal
tor Daniel Elwell said the violations involving the air-
strategy has "consistently liner's certification.
produced safe aircraft de- In addition, the Transporta-
signs for decades." And tion Department watchdog
he said the agency would People work on the Boeing 737 MAX 8 assembly line during a brief media tour in Boeing's 737 as- plans to examine the wide-
need 10,000 more employ- sembly facility, Wednesday, March 27, 2019, in Renton, Wash. spread use of automated
ees and an additional $1.8 Associated Press systems to fly airplanes
billion a year to do all the and whether pilots are be-
work now done by desig- But in the wake of disasters fox in charge of the hen- FAA plans to significantly ing adequately trained for
nated employees of the involving Boeing's new 737 house." revamp its oversight of air- when such features fail.
companies it regulates. Max jetliner in Indonesia "The fact is that the FAA craft development by July. Meanwhile, Boeing invited
Under the self-certifying and Ethiopia, that practice decided to do safety on But the department gave about 200 pilots from sever-
program, these employees has been seized on as evi- the cheap, which is nei- no indication it intends to al airlines to its Seattle-area
perform tests and inspec- dence of an overly cozy re- ther safe nor cheap," Blu- abandon the collaborative facility to explain to them
tions needed to win safety lationship between the FAA menthal said. He vowed approach. upcoming changes to the
approvals, with the FAA and the industry. to introduce legislation to Scovel said the changes Max's flight-control system.
overseeing their work. The Sen. Richard Blumenthal, change the system. would include new ways to The company said pilots
approach is credited with D-Conn., said at a Senate At the same hearing, the evaluate training and self- will be required to take a
holding down government subcommittee hearing that Transportation Depart- audits by aerospace com- computer-based training
costs and speeding the roll- delegating safety work to ment's inspector general, panies but offered little oth- course with about 30 min-
out of new models. the companies puts "the Calvin Scovel III, said the er detail. utes on the flight-control
Boeing said the process by software before they can
which it designs, develops fly the Max. It includes a
and tests planes has led to knowledge test at the end.
safer and safer air travel, Boeing will also put infor-
and it sees no need for an mation about the software
overhaul. in flight-crew manuals.
The FAA and the industry Boeing's vice president of
say that deputizing private airplane development,
employees to do safety-re- Mike Sinnett, repeated
lated tasks is vindicated by Boeing's confidence in the
the nation's safety record safety of the plane.
— one passenger accident "We are working with cus-
death in the U.S. in the last tomers and regulators
10 years and millions of around the world to restore
flights. Elwell said the ap- faith in our industry and also
proach is "part of the fabric to reaffirm our commitment
of what we have used to to safety and to earning
become as safe as we are the trust of the flying pub-
today." lic," Sinnett said.
The Max, featuring bigger, Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M.,
more efficient engines, questioned whether the
went into service in 2017. FAA is too chummy with
The software in a new au- airlines and Boeing, a ma-
tomated system that can jor defense contractor with
push the plane's nose down political power in Washing-
to prevent an aerodynamic ton.
stall is suspected of playing "Changes need to be
a role in the Oct. 29 crash made in the relationship
of a Lion Air jet in Indonesia between this company
and has also come scrutiny and its regulator to en-
in the March 10 plunge of sure that the safely of the
an Ethiopian Airlines Max. In flying public remains the
all, 346 people died. paramount interest, not the
The plane was ground- quarterly profits of this com-
ed around the world this pany," Udall said.q