Testifies Before A Senate Subcommittee Wednesday

Acting FAA administrator Daniel Elwell told the Senate Commerce Aviation and Space subcommittee Wednesday that the agency does not allow self-certification of any kind, although he did admit that the FAA delegated review of the Boeing 737 MAX safety systems to the planemaker.

The Seattle Times reports that Elwell said that the initial review of the MCAS system installed on the larger variant of the 737 MAX was conducted by the agency, but delegated the review of the system to Boeing under the Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) program. “Initially, as a new system or a new device on the amended type certificate, we retained the oversight of that — then over time released that to the ODA when we had the comfort level and the oversight and we examined it thoroughly,” Elwell said in response to a question by Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-WA. “We were able to assure that the ODA members at Boeing had the expertise and the knowledge of the system to continue going forward.”

The hearing was reportedly confrontational at times, according to the report.

Transportation Department’s inspector general, Calvin Scovel III said that it had discovered "weaknesses" in the ODA program, and the FAA plans to make substantive changes in the procedure. He did not, however, provide details of those changes. “FAA must take steps to reduce hazards associated with flight-deck automation. Pilots now rely on automated flight systems as much as 90 percent of the time,” Scovel said.

The Inspector General’s testimony noted that recent events have brought new attention to FAA’s safety oversight, including the two fatal accidents involving Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft that occurred in October 2018 and March 2019. In his testimony, the Inspector General described important safety oversight issues—both new and longstanding—that need FAA’s attention. In particular, the Inspector General focused on FAA’s efforts related to (1) reducing hazards associated with flight deck automation; (2) implementing FAA and industry’s evolving safety oversight systems; and (3) addressing other safety-critical watch items, including runway safety, Unmanned Aircraft Systems, cybersecurity, and suspected unapproved aircraft parts.

The OIG has initiated an audit of the FAA’s overall process for certifying the Boeing 737 MAX series of aircraft. In addition, the OIG will identify and undertake future areas of work related to FAA’s actions in response to the crashes as needed.

(Image from Senate Commerce Aviation and Space subcommittee video)

FMI: Source report,
Committee Hearing video,
www.oig.dot.gov