02:35Mandatory credit: Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)'s Administrator Michael Whitaker said during a Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation hearing on Thursday that the agency's 'approach was too hands-off' with Boeing before the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 incident earlier this year.
"The FAA should have had much better visibility into what was happening at Boeing before January 5th. FAA's approach was too hands-off, too focused on paperwork audits and not focused enough on inspections. We have changed that approach over the last several months and those changes are permanent," Whitaker said.
"We have now moved to a more active, comprehensive oversight model, the audit plus inspection approach, which allows the FAA to have much better insight into Boeing's operations," he added.
Whitaker said that efforts towards improving Boeing's 'safety culture' include visiting their South Carolina facility on Friday and having regular meetings with Boeing's senior executive team 'on a quarterly basis' to monitor the company's implementation of the FAA's safety plan.
"We will also take the learnings of the events of January 5th and apply them through our approach and overseeing all participants in our safety ecosystem. We can no longer afford to remain reactive. We must develop a more dynamic oversight protocol that allows us to anticipate and identify risks before they manifest themselves as events," he continued.
Whitaker also noted that the agency is permanently increasing its number of inspectors. The FAA is now aiming to have 55 trained inspectors to deploy to both Boeing and Spirit Airlines.
"We will now have regulatory standards by which to judge the mandatory system, whereas when it was voluntary, we didn't have any compulsory standards to impose. So we know it'll be broader. It'll go down to suppliers, and it'll also go deeper." Whitaker added
The Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 was en route to California when the door panel detached from the Boeing 737-9 MAX shortly after taking-off from Portland International Airport. According to the National Transportation Safety Board, the door was missing four bolts and had no documentation noting their removal.
In February, the FAA prohibited Boeing from increasing production of its top-selling 737 Max plane and directed the company to address its 'systematic quality-control issues' within 90 days. Boeing later submitted a quality improvement plan to the FAA in May.
FAA Administrator admits agency was 'too hands-off' with Boeing before January 5th incident
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)'s Administrator Michael Whitaker said during a Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation hearing on Thursday that the agency's 'approach was too hands-off' with Boeing before the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 incident earlier this year.
"The FAA should have had much better visibility into what was happening at Boeing before January 5th. FAA's approach was too hands-off, too focused on paperwork audits and not focused enough on inspections. We have changed that approach over the last several months and those changes are permanent," Whitaker said.
"We have now moved to a more active, comprehensive oversight model, the audit plus inspection approach, which allows the FAA to have much better insight into Boeing's operations," he added.
Whitaker said that efforts towards improving Boeing's 'safety culture' include visiting their South Carolina facility on Friday and having regular meetings with Boeing's senior executive team 'on a quarterly basis' to monitor the company's implementation of the FAA's safety plan.
"We will also take the learnings of the events of January 5th and apply them through our approach and overseeing all participants in our safety ecosystem. We can no longer afford to remain reactive. We must develop a more dynamic oversight protocol that allows us to anticipate and identify risks before they manifest themselves as events," he continued.
Whitaker also noted that the agency is permanently increasing its number of inspectors. The FAA is now aiming to have 55 trained inspectors to deploy to both Boeing and Spirit Airlines.
"We will now have regulatory standards by which to judge the mandatory system, whereas when it was voluntary, we didn't have any compulsory standards to impose. So we know it'll be broader. It'll go down to suppliers, and it'll also go deeper." Whitaker added
The Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 was en route to California when the door panel detached from the Boeing 737-9 MAX shortly after taking-off from Portland International Airport. According to the National Transportation Safety Board, the door was missing four bolts and had no documentation noting their removal.
In February, the FAA prohibited Boeing from increasing production of its top-selling 737 Max plane and directed the company to address its 'systematic quality-control issues' within 90 days. Boeing later submitted a quality improvement plan to the FAA in May.
Mandatory credit: Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)'s Administrator Michael Whitaker said during a Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation hearing on Thursday that the agency's 'approach was too hands-off' with Boeing before the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 incident earlier this year.
"The FAA should have had much better visibility into what was happening at Boeing before January 5th. FAA's approach was too hands-off, too focused on paperwork audits and not focused enough on inspections. We have changed that approach over the last several months and those changes are permanent," Whitaker said.
"We have now moved to a more active, comprehensive oversight model, the audit plus inspection approach, which allows the FAA to have much better insight into Boeing's operations," he added.
Whitaker said that efforts towards improving Boeing's 'safety culture' include visiting their South Carolina facility on Friday and having regular meetings with Boeing's senior executive team 'on a quarterly basis' to monitor the company's implementation of the FAA's safety plan.
"We will also take the learnings of the events of January 5th and apply them through our approach and overseeing all participants in our safety ecosystem. We can no longer afford to remain reactive. We must develop a more dynamic oversight protocol that allows us to anticipate and identify risks before they manifest themselves as events," he continued.
Whitaker also noted that the agency is permanently increasing its number of inspectors. The FAA is now aiming to have 55 trained inspectors to deploy to both Boeing and Spirit Airlines.
"We will now have regulatory standards by which to judge the mandatory system, whereas when it was voluntary, we didn't have any compulsory standards to impose. So we know it'll be broader. It'll go down to suppliers, and it'll also go deeper." Whitaker added
The Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 was en route to California when the door panel detached from the Boeing 737-9 MAX shortly after taking-off from Portland International Airport. According to the National Transportation Safety Board, the door was missing four bolts and had no documentation noting their removal.
In February, the FAA prohibited Boeing from increasing production of its top-selling 737 Max plane and directed the company to address its 'systematic quality-control issues' within 90 days. Boeing later submitted a quality improvement plan to the FAA in May.