On the same day that the Federal Aviation Administration announced it would investigate Boeing for its role in an explosion that left a refrigerator-sized hole in an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9, Senator Maria Cantwell placed some of the blame on the FAA. supervisory authorities back.
In a letter to the FAA Thursday afternoon, Cantwell, D-Wash., said, “It appears that the FAA's oversight processes have not been effective” in ensuring the safety of Boeing planes.
She pointed to a January 2023 letter asking the FAA to conduct a special technical review of 11 areas related to Boeing's production systems. The FAA responded to Cantwell in April and declined to take action, according to Cantwell's most recent letter.
In the FAA's response, former acting administrator Billy Nolen told Cantwell that the audit was not necessary because the agency had already implemented tools to conduct these types of reviews, Cantwell continued.
The aircraft maker has been plagued by quality concerns in recent years, particularly after two fatal crashes involving the 737 MAX model occurred less than a year apart in 2018 and 2019.
Last Friday, another incident involving a Boeing aircraft renewed Cantwell's concerns.
That day, on an Alaska Airlines flight en route from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California, a door plug intended to fill a hole in the fuselage for an emergency exit exploded as the plane climbed to 16,000 feet. The Alaska flight was operated on a Boeing 737 MAX 9, the less popular of the two MAX models currently carrying passengers.
More about Alaska Airlines and the Boeing 737 MAX 9
The plane returned safely to Portland International Airport, where some passengers were treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
The FAA banned this model of the MAX on Saturday.
On Thursday, Cantwell called on the FAA to provide a full report on its oversight of manufacturer compliance and quality control standards to determine whether its processes are effective.
She asked the regulator to send copies of the last 24 months of notification letters for all Boeing quality system audits and supplier control audits for Spirit AeroSystems, one of Boeing's suppliers.
The jet's entire fuselage, including the blown door plug, is assembled in Wichita, Kansas, by Spirit. The jet then arrives by train at Boeing's Renton plant.
In addition to the notification letters, Cantwell requested that the FAA provide copies of all reports related to these audits, all letters of investigation following the assessments, and other documents provided to Boeing and Spirit.
The senator also called on the FAA to determine “what oversight improvements, if any, the agency may want to make to ensure Spirit’s processes meet all regulatory requirements.”
“The safety of the flying public is our top priority,” Cantwell said in a statement. “We need to know what caused the horrific incident on an Alaska Airlines flight last week and whether manufacturers and FAA regulators failed to follow safety regulations.”
Cantwell claimed that the FAA's current procedures appear to provide a loophole for manufacturers to avoid audit accountability. She pointed to a provision that required the FAA to notify manufacturers 50 days in advance of a quality system audit.
“This generous notice period paves the way for manufacturers to correct nonconforming conditions prior to the audit,” Cantwell wrote. “In fact, manufacturers only have to put things in order when an audit is announced.”
In response to Cantwell's letter, the FAA said it would respond to the senator directly. The agency did not respond to questions about the allegations contained in the letter.
The FAA said earlier Thursday that it was investigating whether Boeing was complying with all regulatory requirements to ensure its planes were safe to operate.
According to the FAA, Boeing is responsible for certifying that each completed aircraft conforms to the approved design. It must also inspect and test products and ensure that “post-delivery activities” are completed in accordance with contractual and regulatory guidelines.
Boeing's response, the FAA wrote in its letter, should include the “root cause” of the incident, details of service impacts and affected products, and information about all immediate and long-term actions Boeing has taken to address the problem.
Boeing said it would comply with investigations by the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the fuselage incident.
Cantwell isn't the first to question the FAA's oversight of Boeing.
The manufacturer, and particularly its MAX planes, have been under scrutiny in recent years as it has faced manufacturing defects and overheating concerns that led the FAA to advise pilots to limit the use of an anti-ice system, and the rudder system due to a possible loose screw connection.
In 2018 and March 2019, two MAX 8 jets crashed, killing 346 people and prompting a global flight ban that lasted nearly two years.
Boeing revised its production quality control system in January 2019. The company said it would use automation to make mechanics' jobs easier, speed up production and ensure the job is done right the first time, eliminating the need for as many checks along the way.
However, the plan would also eliminate thousands of quality inspections and hundreds of quality inspector positions. Union leaders and some Boeing employees told the Seattle Times they were concerned it was a “dangerous idea.”
In 2021, a congressional committee sent a letter to Boeing and the FAA requesting manufacturing and quality control records.
A week later, the FAA fined Boeing $17 million and ordered the manufacturer to take several corrective actions to improve quality control in building the 737.
Cantwell referred to Boeing's changes to its inspection program in her recent letter and asked the FAA whether it had verified that Boeing's inspection program met all regulatory requirements.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., also sent a letter to the FAA earlier this week, demanding a “response to how this incident occurred” and more information about what the FAA is “doing to ensure our skies for sure is”.
“This distribution event is another black mark for Boeing’s 737 MAX aircraft fleet and, worryingly, appears to be part of a broader pattern,” Blumenthal wrote.
Cantwell asked the FAA to respond to her letter by Jan. 25.