FAA Misled Congress About Safety Inspectors Who Evaluated Boeing 737 Max

Some of the Federal Administration Inspectors who certified the troubled Boeing 737 Max planes fit to fly in 2017 were underqualified. According to Federal Investigators, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspectors tried to mislead the lawmakers about this.

The planes which were certified safe by the agency, have been grounded since March after two fatal crashes, which claimed the lives of over 300 people within a period of 5 months.

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel said that the claim made by FAA in April to the Senate Panel that the inspectors who evaluated and worked on the Boeing 737 Max flight were qualified, contradicted their findings.

Independent investigations were carried out by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, into the claims made by a whistleblower complaint regarding the qualification of the FAA inspectors. 16 of the 22 safety inspectors had failed to complete their formal training while 11 of the 16 inspectors did not possess flight-instructor certificates.

The latest findings have put the FAA under scrutiny and raised questions about the transparency and the effectiveness of the safety organization. The crashes had occurred as the pilots were not trained enough to handle problems with the new Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) automation system in the Boeing 737 Max.

In a letter to the U.S. President Donald Trump, Special Counsel Henry J. Kerner wrote, “FAA’s official responses to Congress appear to have been misleading in their portrayal of FAA employee training and competency.”

“The FAA is entrusted with the critically important role of ensuring aircraft safety. The FAA’s failure to ensure safety inspector competency for these aircraft puts the flying public at risk,” he added in the statement.

The FAA said in its statement that it was confident in the work of its safety workers and is reviewing the special counsel’s letter.

“We remain confident in our representations to Congress and in the work of our aviation safety professionals. Aviation safety is always our foremost priority, and we look forward to responding to the concerns that have been raised.”

The FAA further added that all the safety inspectors who evaluated the Boeing 737 Max were fully qualified for the task.