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American aviation regulators misled Congress about a whistle-blower’s allegation that many inspectors performing safety assessments on the now-grounded Boeing Co. 737 Max airplane weren’t properly qualified to certify pilots or assess pilot training, a government watchdog agency has concluded.
The Office of Special Counsel, a federal agency that investigates whistle-blower complaints, called Federal Aviation Administration assertions on the case “misleading,” and said the agency’s response to lawmakers “raises significant concerns.”
The charges became public in April when Senator Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican who is chairman of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, issued a press release. At the time, FAA disputed the allegations, insisting in responses to Congress that its pilots were properly qualified.
The FAA pilots about whom qualification issues were raised are called Aviation Safety Inspectors. They administer skill tests of other pilots and perform other duties, including sitting on groups called Flight Standardization Boards. The FSB was involved in approving the pilot training criteria for 737 Max.
The FAA disputed the findings in an emailed statement, adding “we remain confident in our representations to Congress and in the work of our aviation safety professionals.“
The issue had no bearing on decisions about pilot-training requirements on the 737 Max, said an agency official who wasn’t permitted to speak about the matter and asked not to be named. All pilots who assessed Boeing’s jet were properly qualified to do so, the person said.
The Office of Special Counsel, however, sided with the whistle-blower and said some internal FAA reviews had concluded the same thing. It found that 16 of 22 FAA pilots conducting safety reviews, including making decisions on the 737 Max when it came into service two years ago, “lacked proper training and accreditation,” according to the OSC letter to President Donald Trump. The OSC letter was first reported by the Washington Post.
The two crashes of the 737 Max, which led to 346 deaths, were “closely linked with crew training resources and familiarity with operational procedures” — which were under the authority of some of the improperly trained pilots, the letter said.
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
This article was written by Alan Levin from Bloomberg and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@newscred.com.
Photo Credit: Boeing 737 MAX airplanes are seen parked on Boeing property along the Duwamish River. David Ryder / Getty Images
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