FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker to testify to Congress about Boeing

FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker is predicted to face a barrage of questions Tuesday about FAA oversight of the corporate since a door panel blew off a Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliner over Oregon final month.

Individually, investigators with the Nationwide Transportation Security Board are anticipated to launch a preliminary report on the Jan. 5 incident as early as Tuesday.

Whitaker is scheduled to testify earlier than the Home Transportation Committee. Leaders of the committee spelled out questions they need answered, together with whether or not FAA discovered “persistent high quality management lapses” at Boeing earlier than the accident, and any since then.

No Boeing representatives are scheduled to testify.

Boeing and the FAA have been below renewed scrutiny since final month’s incident on an Alaska Airways Max 9. Criticism of each the corporate and its regulator return to lethal crashes in 2018 and 2019 of Max 8 jets in Indonesia and Ethiopia that killed 346 folks.

The FAA supplied excerpts of Whitaker’s written testimony forward of Tuesday’s listening to. He vowed that FAA will “take acceptable and needed motion” to maintain the flying public secure.

With out giving specifics, Whitaker mentioned the FAA will improve staffing to observe plane manufacturing, “and we’ll take into account the complete extent of our enforcement authority to make sure Boeing is held accountable for any non-compliance” with laws.

After the incident on the Alaska jet, the FAA grounded most Max 9s for 3 weeks till panels known as door plugs could possibly be inspected. FAA additionally mentioned it gained’t let Boeing improve the manufacturing charge of latest Max jets till it’s glad with the corporate’s security procedures.

On Sunday, Boeing, which is predicated in Arlington, Virginia, disclosed that improperly drilled holes within the window frames would require the corporate to remodel about 50 planes earlier than they are often delivered to airline clients.