US lawmakers seek more Max data from Boeing, FAA
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WASHINGTON • US House transportation leaders are seeking new records from Boeing and federal regulators on the production of 737 Max and 787 aircraft as a result of safety issues.
Both models have been plagued by problems that include electrical components in the Max and the construction of the carbon fibre structure on the 787. Mr Peter DeFazio, chairman of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, and his fellow Democrat Rick Larsen, who leads the aviation subcommittee, issued a release on the request.
"In light of these new and ongoing issues that point to problems in maintaining quality control and appropriate FAA oversight of production issues, I will thoroughly.... investigate any issues, such as those affecting the 737 Max and the 787, that may endanger public safety," Mr DeFazio said in Tuesday's release.
The request is being made to the Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing. It comes after the committee spent more than a year investigating the two fatal accidents involving the Max that killed 346 people and led to its worldwide grounding.
Those disasters were linked to a design flaw separate from the issues now under investigation.
The FAA said it was reviewing the request and will make every effort to respond as quickly and completely as possible.
Boeing said it was reviewing the request.
The relationship between the planemaker and its federal regulator has at times been tense since the second Max accident in March 2019 in Ethiopia prompted an 18-month grounding of the plane.
BLOOMBERG
