US Investigates FAA Approval Of Boeing 737 MAX 8 Development

Federal agencies in the United States are reportedly probing the processes involved in the development and approval of Boeing 737 MAX 8 jetliner that crashed twice in a span of fewer than six months.

Latest being the March 10 crash of the jetliner owned by Ethiopian Airlines that came down on the Kenyan capital of Nairobi killing 157 on board. That was the second tragedy after the October crash in Indonesia.

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, the Department of Transport Authority (DOT) is examining whether any lapses took place in the Federal Aviation Administration’s approval of Boeing 737 MAX 8 jetliner.

From the DOT, an Inspector General is probing the matter. The report also said federal prosecutors of the Department of Justice have also joined with own investigations.

Accordingly, a grand jury in Washington issued a broad subpoena on March 11 to one of the persons involved in the 737 MAX 8’s development. The memo sought key documents such as correspondence, emails and other messages related to the matter from the party.

Meanwhile, the FAA defended its aircraft certification processes. Calling it well established and “consistently produced safe aircraft designs," the FAA said in a statement amidst investigations by the Indonesia and Ethiopia governments that are being assisted by the U.S. and Boeing.

Flaws in the automatic safety system

In the DOT probe, the focus will be on the automatic safety system of the aircraft that also led to the October crash of Lion Air in Indonesia.

In November 2018, WSJ reported that Boeing failed to alert the airline industry over a potentially hazardous feature incorporated in the new flight-control system.

The early reports on the Lion Air crash indicated that pilots struggled in handling the automatic safety system, named as the Manoeuvring Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) to keep the jet in control.

The Ethiopian Minister of Transport also stated that the preliminary data from the perished jet’s black boxes bore considerable similarities with the crash in Indonesia.

Boeing’s software upgrade

Meanwhile, Boeing announced that it will be finalizing a software update related to the MCAS system to reinforce further safety. The company said it was working with the FAA to finalize it and hoped it would be complete before April.

Boeing faced heavy damage from the consecutive crashes. Now the Boeing 737 Max 8 planes have been grounded by the U.S., Europe, China, and Indonesia.

Boeing has been hit in the stock market as well. Boeing shares, a weighted component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged. It slightly soared 1.52 percent to $378.99 on Friday. But it is still way down the peak $446.01 of early March.