US DOT audit slams FAA’s oversight of Boeing
October 14, 2024
A US Department of Transport (DOT) audit has highlighted 16 key recommendations to improve Federal Aviation Administration oversight of Boeing production, criticising the regulator as having “not adequately ensured that Boeing and its suppliers can produce parts that confirm to the approved design” – recommendations accepted in full by the FAA.
The FAA has announced what it termed “new and significant actions to immediately increase its oversight of Boeing production and manufacturing” in January, following the in-flight door plug blowout of an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX. 9 However, “weaknesses in FAA’s oversight processes and systems limit its ability to identify and resolve Boeing [737 MAX and 787] production issues,” stated the DOT following an audit requested by the House Transformation and Infrastructure Committee and its Subcommittee on Aviation.
FAA shortcomings in production oversight processes
Weaknesses identified in the FAA’s oversight of Boeing’s processes and systems are multifaceted. Although acknowledging that the FAA has “exceeded the minimum number of audits [18 within 12 months] it requires itself to complete to oversee Boeing production and manufacturing, the Agency’s current audit processes are not comprehensive enough,” stated the DOT, which also believes the FAA has “not addressed longstanding weaknesses in Boeing’s oversight of suppliers”.
Additionally, the FAA does not require its inspectors to review First Article Inspections (intended to ensure a manufacturer’s processes can produce compliant parts from the outset), its compliance system “cannot track milestones or determine whether potential repetitive noncompliances have occurred,” and it has not assessed the effectiveness of Boeing’s Safety Management System – a system the FAA required Boeing to strengthen during the corrective action plan submitted by the manufacturer in May 2024.
Since commencing conducting risk assessments at 22 individual Boeing facilities in 2014 (rather than treating the company as a single entity), the FAA “consistently considers these facilities high risk due to the complexity of Boeing’s quality system, level of outsourcing, organizational stability, relationship with FAA, and overall compliance history”.
The FAA has also failed to establish criteria to return delegated authority to Boeing’s Organization Design Organisation (ODA). With the FAA having retained the authority to issue airworthiness certificates to 737 and 787 aircraft since 2019 and 2022 repectively, FAA oversight officials had initiated a request to allow the Boeing ODA to begin issuing 737 and 787 airworthiness inspections again in August 2023, despite ongoing manufacturing concerns. However, this was subsequently paused following the January 2024 Alaska Airlines incident.
“Allegations of undue pressure”
However, of equal importance are the DOT’s ongoing concerns that the FAA has “not enforced requirements that Boeing provide information in sufficient detail on alleged undue pressure allegations” – with the FAA also failing to evaluate these “in a timely manner”.
15 of 34 allegations reviewed by the DOT “remained unresolved by FAA for more than one year,” with two of these cases open for more than two years. “Further, despite FAA organisational changes to improve oversight, FAA managers did not know about the investigations of ongoing undue pressure allegations when they initiated a request to expand the authorised functions of Boeing’s ODA,” concluded the DOT.
16 recommendations
In conclusion, with the DOT believing that the FAA has “yet to move from a reactive approach… to a more proactive, data-driven model to identify risk within Boeing’s manufacturing processes at all levels,” along with its failure to “[demonstrate] an ability to resolve allegations of undue pressure of Boeing employees acting on FAA’s behalf,” 16 key recommendations have been made.
After receiving the draft report in August, the FAA concurred with all 16 suggestions, considering them “resolved but open pending completion of the planned actions”. “By improving its oversight model to better address risk, FAA can help to improve a failing system and restore public trust in the safety of Boeing aircraft,” concluded the DOT.
