Boeing transmitted to the Congressional Transport Committee, on the evening of Monday, December 20, new troubling documents regarding Boeing's response to safety concerns surrounding the 737 MAX, an adviser to Parliament told reporters on Tuesday the United States.
Boeing sent the documents " late in the evening ", that is to say after the announcement of the immediate resignation of its executive director, Dennis Muilenburg, specified the assistant of this commission which is currently carrying out an investigation on the 737 MAX, banned commercial flight since March 13 following two accidents murderers.
However, he did not specify whether these documents related the situation before or after the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines accidents, which occurred in late October 2018 and March 10, respectively. The assistant said it was Boeing who on his own initiative forwarded these documents, the exact contents of which have not been disclosed.
"Staff continue to review these files, but like other files previously disclosed by Boeing, they seem to show a very disturbing picture regarding two concerns expressed by Boeing employees, about the company's engagement on security, and the efforts of some employees to ensure that Boeing's production plans are not thwarted by regulators or others ”, he explained.
"A change of direction was necessary"
Multiple investigations by aviation authorities in Indonesia, where the Lion Air plane crashed, as well as in Ethiopia after the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines aircraft, have questioned the MCAS anti-stall software for the device. They also exposed other shortcomings of the manufacturer, such as a lack of information from the pilots.
In the United States, investigations in parliamentary committees have also revealed a very close relationship between the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the manufacturer, the federal authorities having left entire sections of the 737 MAX certification process to Boeing hands.
On Monday, Boeing announced the immediate resignation of Mr. Muilenburg, who was widely criticized for his handling of the 737 MAX crisis. "The board of directors has decided that a change of management is necessary to restore confidence in the company as it strives to re-establish ties with regulators, customers and all other stakeholders", had justified the constructor.
"The ouster of Dennis Muilenburg was long overdue", had reacted for his part Peter DeFazio, president of the transport commission to the Congress, estimating that "Under his leadership, a long-admired company (had) taken a number of devastating decisions suggesting that profit was more important than safety".
