(New throughout, adds report released and other details,
background)
By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, Feb 24 (Reuters) - The U.S. Transportation
Department's inspector general faulted "weaknesses" in U.S.
government certification of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft that was
grounded for 20 months after two crashes killed 346 people,
according to a report released Wednesday.
The 63-page report said the Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) did not have a complete understanding of a Boeing Co
safety system tied to both crashes and said "much work
remains" to address outstanding issues. It also cited
"management and oversight weaknesses."
The FAA agreed to implement all 14 recommendations in the
report and said it "has already made substantial progress
towards implementing reforms that address some of your
recommendations."
Boeing said it has "undertaken significant changes to
reinforce our safety practices, and we have already made
progress" on recommendations outlined in the report.
The report noted "instances where the same company engineer
worked on a particular design and then approved the design” as a
Boeing employee conducting certification tasks for the FAA.
The report added FAA needs to do more to ensure personnel
conducting certification tasks "are adequately independent."
It was the second report by the inspector general's office
into the fatal crashes. The first, issued in June, disclosed
Boeing had failed to submit documents to the FAA.
In December, Congress passed legislation reforming how the
FAA certifies airplanes, especially the long-standing practice
of delegating some certification tasks to manufacturers.
The report urges FAA to "incorporate lessons" from the
accidents into "implementing a risk-based approach" in
delegating oversight and said reforms "will be vital to restore
confidence in FAA’s certification process and ensure the highest
level of safety in future certification efforts."
The new law boosts FAA oversight of aircraft manufacturers,
requires disclosure of critical safety information and new
whistleblower protections.
The legislation requires an independent review of Boeing’s
safety culture. Boeing agreed to a $2.5 billion settlement with
the U.S. Justice Department in January into the MAX as part of a
deferred prosecution agreement, a form of corporate plea bargain
FAA said it encouraging manufacturers to engage earlier in
"their development process to provide the agency a better
understanding of novel features." It is also working with other
civil aviation authorities "to evaluate certification
requirements for derivative aircraft, thus ensuring a consistent
worldwide approach to safety and the similar evaluation and
treatment of design changes."
(Reporting by David Shepardson; additional reporting by Eric M.
Johnson and Tracy Rucinski editing by Jonathan Oatis and David
Gregorio)