Democrat Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington state has sent a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) demanding answers about why the regulator has been treating beleaguered aerospace giant Boeing with kid gloves.
Once one of the most respected and innovative companies in the world, Boeing’s reputation has crashed along with too many of its planes. The recent years-long scandal plaguing the company started with their roll-out of the latest version of the world’s most popular commercial jet, the 737.
The single-aisle plane first flew in 1967, and has been updated and stretched several times over. The most recent overhaul gave the world the 737 Max, an up to date plane with “fly by wire” computer controls. And it was the software underneath those controls that caused hundreds of fatalities in 2018 and 2019.
Boeing failed to communicate to pilots that the craft’s safety system to prevent a stall (when the plane loses lift and drops down from the sky) would behave in an unexpected way. Pilots found themselves fighting the planes control yoke, trying to keep the plane’s nose up while the computer forced it downward. Three hundred-and-forty-six people lost their lives in the two Max crashes.
Cantwell wants the FAA to do what’s called a “root cause analysis” of how the agency oversees Boeing. She said the regulator’s hands-off treatment of the company has contributed to its growing safety problems.
The Max crashes are far from the only quality control issues for Boeing. Earlier this year the world watched in horror as a 737 cruising over Oregon had a blow-out. A door panel exploded out of the cabin at 16,000 feet, causing the plane to depressurize and forcing an emergency landing. Fortunately, no one was injured, but the incident refocused attention on Boeing as people asked themselves: what is going on?
In her letter, Cantwell said she had “serious concerns” about the FAA’s audit procedures for Boeing and its suppliers and sister companies.
Cantwell chairs the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. This June the committee convened for a hearing on safety in flying, and Cantwell grilled Michael Whittaker who heads the FAA. He allowed as how the FAA had been too “hands-off” when it came to Boeing.
Critics of the agency have pointed out that has allowed the plane-maker to “self-regulate” and self-certify its own safety, an obvious conflict of interest.
