Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 (ET-AVM), the same aircraft that crashed in Ethiopia in March 2019, is seen at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, when it was first delivered to Ethiopia in July 2018. File Photo by Stringer/EPA
Dec. 19 (UPI) -- The Federal Aviation Administration repeatedly allowed Southwest Airlines to continue operating dozens of aircraft in an unknown airworthiness condition, allowed Boeing to coach test pilots in ways counter to safety protocols and continues to retaliate against whistleblowers, according to a federal report released this week.
Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., called his committee's new findings in Federal Aviation Administration probe after two fatal Boeing 737 Max crashes in April 2019, "troubling."
Wicker, chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, which conducted a 20-month probe, released the findings Friday.
"Twenty months ago, the Commerce Committee launched an investigation into FAA safety oversight," Wicker said in the statement. "We have received disclosures from more than 50 whistleblowers, conducted numerous FAA staff interviews, and reviewed over 15,000 pages of relevant documents."
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"Our findings are troubling," Wicker continued. "The report details a number of significant lapses in aviation safety oversight and failed leadership in the FAA. It is clear that the agency requires consistent oversight to ensure their work to protect the flying public is executed fully and correctly."
The 737 Max fleet has been grounded worldwide since March 2019 after crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia killed 346 people within five months in 2018 and 2019. The aircraft's automated Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System pushed both planes into a nose-dive after a faulty sensor, according to earlier reports.
"FAA and Boeing officials involved in this conduct of this test had established a pre-determined outcome to re-affirm a long-held human factor assumption related to pilot reaction time to a runaway stabilizer," the Senate committee concluded. "It appears, in this instance, FAA and Boeing were attempting to cover up important information that may have contributed to the 737 Max tragedies."
According to the report, FAA senior leaders may have obstructed a Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General review and the agency failed to produce relevant documents Wicker requested.
"We take seriously the committee's findings and will continue to review the report in full," Boeing said in a statement. "We have learned many hard lessons from the Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Flight 302 accidents, and we will never forget the lives lost on board. The events and lessons have reshaped our company and further focused our attention on our core values of safety, quality, and integrity."
Despite repeated findings of deficiencies over several decades, FAA senior managers have not been held accountable for failure to provide adequate training in flight standards, the report also found.
"We take seriously the committee's findings and will continue to review the report in full," Boeing said in a statement. "We have learned many hard lessons from the Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Flight 302 accidents, and we will never forget the lives lost on board. The events and lessons have reshaped our company and further focused our attention on our core values of safety, quality, and integrity."
Despite repeated findings of deficiencies over several decades, FAA senior managers have not been held accountable for failure to provide adequate training in flight standards, the report also found.
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The FAA told NPR in an emailed statement Saturday the report contained "unsubstantiated allegations."
"Working closely with other international regulators, the FAA conducted a thorough and deliberate review of the 737 Max," the FAA told NPR. "We are confident that the safety issues that played a role in the tragic accidents involving Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 have been addressed through the design changes required and independently approved by the FAA and its partners."
The Senate committee also found the FAA repeatedly permitted Southwest Airlines to operate dozens of aircraft in an unknown worthiness condition for several years, putting millions of passengers at rises.
"We are aware of the committee report and have utilized many of these past references to improve our practices and oversight," a spokeswoman said in a statement to The Verge. "All applicable aircraft underwent visual inspections, and Southwest completed physical inspections, from nose to tail, on each of the pre-owned aircraft by January 2020 -- fully satisfying FAA requests."
"Our actions did not stem from any suspected safety concerns with the aircraft, but were an effort to reconcile and validate records and previous repairs," Southwest added in the statement.
The FAA told NPR in an emailed statement Saturday the report contained "unsubstantiated allegations."
"Working closely with other international regulators, the FAA conducted a thorough and deliberate review of the 737 Max," the FAA told NPR. "We are confident that the safety issues that played a role in the tragic accidents involving Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 have been addressed through the design changes required and independently approved by the FAA and its partners."
The Senate committee also found the FAA repeatedly permitted Southwest Airlines to operate dozens of aircraft in an unknown worthiness condition for several years, putting millions of passengers at rises.
"We are aware of the committee report and have utilized many of these past references to improve our practices and oversight," a spokeswoman said in a statement to The Verge. "All applicable aircraft underwent visual inspections, and Southwest completed physical inspections, from nose to tail, on each of the pre-owned aircraft by January 2020 -- fully satisfying FAA requests."
"Our actions did not stem from any suspected safety concerns with the aircraft, but were an effort to reconcile and validate records and previous repairs," Southwest added in the statement.
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