The head of the Federal Aviation Administration said on Thursday the agency was “too hands-off” in its oversight of Boeing before the January mid-air emergency involving a new Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9.
“The FAA should have had much better visibility into what was happening at Boeing before January 5,” said the regulator's administrator Mike Whitaker at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing.
He said the agency had permanently boosted the use of in-person inspectors and would visit a Boeing factory in South Carolina on Friday.
The FAA's approach before then “was too hands-off, too focused on paperwork audits and not focused enough on inspections”, Mr Whitaker added.
“We will utilise the full extent of our enforcement authority to ensure Boeing is held accountable for any non-compliance,” he said.
“We currently have multiple active investigations into Boeing.”
US federal officials ordered the immediate grounding of some Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft pending inspections after the Alaska Airlines flight carrying 177 passengers suffered a blowout that left a gaping hole in the side of the fuselage.
Mr Whitaker said the agency will continue increased on-site presence at Boeing and its supplier Spirit AeroSystems “for the foreseeable future”.
He added that the FAA has “additional inspections at critical points of the production process”.
“We must develop a more dynamic oversight protocol that allows us to anticipate and identify risks before they manifest themselves as events,” he said.
After the Alaska Airlines incident, “the FAA changed its oversight approach and those changes are permanent”, Mr Whitaker said.
“We have now supplemented our audits with more active, in-person oversight – the 'audit plus inspection' approach.”
While the January 5 Alaska Airlines incident did not result in injuries, it brought renewed scrutiny of the plane manufacturer after years of safety problems.
On May 30, Boeing delivered a comprehensive quality improvement plan to the FAA after Mr Whitaker in late February gave Boeing 90 days to develop a plan to address “systemic quality-control issues”.
As part of this plan, Boeing is required to have a mandatory safety management system and strengthen the anonymous reporting systems so employees can share concerns without fear of reprisal.
Boeing also faces potential criminal prosecution related to two crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed almost 350 people, the Justice Department has said.
“There must be a fundamental shift in the company's safety culture in order to holistically address its quality and safety challenges,” Mr Whitaker told the committee.
“This is about systemic change, and there's a lot of work to be done.”
Day 5, Dubai Test: At a glance
Moment of the day Given the problems Sri Lanka have had in recent times, it was apt the winning catch was taken by Dinesh Chandimal. He is one of seven different captains Sri Lanka have had in just the past two years. He leads in understated fashion, but by example. His century in the first innings of this series set the shock win in motion.
Stat of the day This was the ninth Test Pakistan have lost in their past 11 matches, a run that started when they lost the final match of their three-Test series against West Indies in Sharjah last year. They have not drawn a match in almost two years and 19 matches, since they were held by England at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi in 2015.
The verdict Mickey Arthur basically acknowledged he had erred by basing Pakistan’s gameplan around three seam bowlers and asking for pitches with plenty of grass in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. Why would Pakistan want to change the method that has treated them so well on these grounds in the past 10 years? It is unlikely Misbah-ul-Haq would have made the same mistake.
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Draw for Europa League last-16
Istanbul Basaksehir v Copenhagen; Olympiakos Piraeus v Wolverhampton Wanderers
Rangers v Bayer Leverkusen; VfL Wolfsburg v Shakhtar Donetsk; Inter Milan v Getafe
Sevilla v AS Roma; Eintracht Frankfurt or Salzburg v Basel; LASK v Manchester United
Match info
Uefa Champions League Group F
Manchester City v Hoffenheim, midnight (Wednesday, UAE)
UAE v Gibraltar
What: International friendly
When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
The specs: 2018 Ducati SuperSport S
Price, base / as tested: Dh74,900 / Dh85,900
Engine: 937cc
Transmission: Six-speed gearbox
Power: 110hp @ 9,000rpm
Torque: 93Nm @ 6,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 5.9L / 100km
FIXTURES
All times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Friday
Saint-Etienne v Montpellier (10.45pm)
Saturday
Monaco v Caen (7pm)
Amiens v Bordeaux (10pm)
Angers v Toulouse (10pm)
Metz v Dijon (10pm)
Nantes v Guingamp (10pm)
Rennes v Lille (10pm)
Sunday
Nice v Strasbourg (5pm)
Troyes v Lyon (7pm)
Marseille v Paris Saint-Germain (11pm)
Match info
Uefa Champions League Group H
Juventus v Valencia, Tuesday, midnight (UAE)
Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
