FAA Chief Says Agency Was ‘Too Hands Off’ With Boeing Before Alaska Airlines Incident
Skift Take
The FAA now plans to meet with Boeing every week to keep track of the plane maker’s progress as it seeks to turn around its production and quality control processes.
FAA chief Mike Whitaker told a Senate panel Thursday that the agency had been “too hands off” in its oversight of Boeing before the Alaska Airlines blowout incident.
“FAA's approach was too hands-off, too focused on paperwork audits, and not focused enough on inspections,” Whitaker told the Senate Commerce Committee.
Now, the FAA is adding more inspections to its Boeing oversight, Whitaker said. In past years, the FAA had been criticized for outsourcing inspections to plane makers, a practice that came under scrutiny during the fatal 737 Max 8 crashes. As a result, Congress passed legislation to bolste
