FAA Admits Lack of Adequate Supervision Over Boeing Prior to Crisis

The Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) lax approach to oversight of Boeing’s protocols came under scrutiny in light of a serious mid-flight incident earlier this year. On January 5, 2024, an emergency door was forcefully ejected off a new Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 plane during its flight.

Addressing a Senate Commerce Committee hearing, FAA’s administrator Mike Whitaker stated regretfully, “We should have had a better understanding of Boeing’s activities prior to January 5.”

Enhanced Inspection Measures Implemented by FAA

Whitaker elaborated that the FAA has since strengthened the deployment of face-to-face inspections. For instance, plans were underway for an FAA team to inspect a Boeing factory in South Carolina the very next day.

Admitting initial shortcomings with the FAA’s approach to Boeing’s oversight, Whitaker said, “We were too permissive, excessively reliant on paperwork audits, and insufficiently attentive to concrete inspections.” These flaws, he assured, are being rectified. “We will muster our complete enforcement authority to hold Boeing accountable for any lapse in compliance. Currently, we have several ongoing investigations into Boeing,” he added.

Continuous On-Site Presence at Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems

Whitaker indicated that the heightened on-site presence of the FAA at both Boeing and its supplier Spirit AeroSystems would persist indefinitely.

Substantiating those efforts, Whitaker confirmed “additional inspections at pivotal stages of the production process.”

Learning from the recent turmoil, Whitaker says, “The FAA has transformed its oversight approach, and these changes are here to stay. We have enriched our audits with more vigorous, in-person oversight — which is a shift from ‘audit to inspection’ in our approach.”

Boeing’s Quality Improvement Plan Delivered to the FAA

On May 30, in response to a 90-day timeframe given by Whitaker in late February, Boeing delivered a comprehensive quality improvement plan to the FAA. This plan was designed to address systemic issues related to quality-control within the company’s operations.