WASHINGTON: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced the launch of a formal investigation into whether aerospace giant Boeing followed rules to ensure that the aircraft it built were safe for operation, The Washington Post reported on Thursday.
The report, citing a letter issued by FAA to the Seattle-based company, read, “Boeing may have failed to ensure its completed products conformed to its approved design and were in a condition for safe operation in accordance with quality system inspection and test procedures”.
The development comes amid a blame game over last week’s high-profile incident involving a Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft operated by Alaska Airlines. A door-like panel flew off during a flight, leaving a gaping hole in the plane. The incident left the passengers on board terrified and renewed scrutiny of the company that manufactured planes involved in two fatal air crashes in 2018 and 2019.
“This incident should have never happened and it cannot happen again”, the agency said in a statement. “Boeing’s manufacturing practices need to comply with the high safety standards they’re legally accountable to meet”, it said. The Washington Post reported that the FAA formally notified the company about the investigation in a letter.
Boeing did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Boeing’s chief executive told employees during a company meeting on Tuesday that the aerospace giant will acknowledge its “mistake” and be transparent as it attempts to move forward after the grounding of dozens of its 737 Max 9 aircraft over safety concerns.
“We’re going to approach this No. 1 acknowledging our mistake,” Dave Calhoun said, according to excerpts provided by the company. “We’re going to approach it with 100 pc and complete transparency every step of the way”.
The FAA previously announced it was grounding 171 Boeing Max 9 planes until formal inspections of the aircraft could be done. However, airlines have not been able to begin formal inspections due to a lack of clarity from Boeing and the FAA, which has a formal procedure required for the planes to resume flying. Alaska and United Airlines are the only two U.S. carriers that have the Boeing Max 9 planes in their fleets.
The National Transportation Safety Board, which is leading the investigation into the January 5 accident, has recovered the part, known as a door plug, which investigators say will provide valuable clues as to why the part failed.
On Monday, India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) informed that checks on all over-wing emergency exits of Boeing B737-8 Max aircraft have been satisfactorily performed by all aircraft operators.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the top-most regulator for air travel in India, directed all airlines to carry out a one-time inspection of all the Boeing 737-8 aircraft in their fleet after the emergency landing of an Alaska Airlines flight after one of its doors blew up mid-air.
Earlier, a Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft, which was part of the operating fleet of the same carrier, on January 5, reported an in-flight departure of a mid-cabin door plug, resulting in rapid decompression of the aircraft.
While Indian airlines do not have B737-9 Max aircraft in its fleet, currently, several carriers in the country have 43 B737 MAX planes in their fleet. (ANI)