Federal oversight of Boeing Co. prior to an aircraft door plug blowout in January was “too hands off” and the government “should have had a better handle” on safety, Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Mike Whitaker told lawmakers Thursday in a stark assessment of his own agency’s performance.
In a Senate Commerce Committee hearing, he confirmed senators’ concerns that the agency had been too lenient as Boeing’s quality processes slipped and he promised to beef up oversight as Boeing moves to overhaul its safety culture.
“The results are major safety concerns and are very concerning to me, and, I think, the public,” Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said to Whitaker, reacting to an FAA audit probing Boeing’s safety culture and systems. “You’ve identified, according to news reports, 97 instances at Boeing and 21 instances at [Spirit AeroSystems] of where the procedures and products didn’t meet FAA standards … So I’m very concerned that your oversight is not strong enough.”
