The head of the Federal Aviation Administration has acknowledged his agency should have been more aware of problems at Boeing before a door plug blew off a 737 Max jet during an Alaska Airlines flight in January.

The top U.S. aviation regulator said Thursday that the Federal Aviation Administration should have been more aware of manufacturing problems inside Boeing before a panel blew off a 737 Max during an Alaska Airlines flight in January.

“FAA’s approach was too hands-off — too focused on paperwork audits and not focused enough on inspections,” FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker told a Senate committee.

Whitaker said that since the Jan. 5 blowout on the Alaska jetliner, the FAA has changed to “more active, comprehensive oversight” of Boeing. That includes, as he has said before, putting more inspectors in factories at Boeing and its chief supplier on the Max, Spirit AeroSystems.

Whitaker made the comments while his agency, the Justice Department and the National Transportation Safety Board continue investigations into the giant aircraft manufacturer. The FAA has limited Boeing’s production of 737 Max jets to 38 per month, but the company is building far fewer than that while it tries to fix quality-control problems.

  • circuscritic@lemmy.ca
    391·
    15 days ago

    Get fucked. He has spent his whole professional career being an airline industry suit, which is why he was placed at the FAA by Biden: he’s another industry plant in an completey captured regulator, by an industry captured government.

    All he’s doing is stating the obvious because the cats out of the bag. Don’t hold your breath for this lifelong airline industry executive to be some savior or rebuilder of an independent FAA.

    Whitaker began his aviation career as a litigator, then as assistant general counsel of international and regulatory affairs at Trans World Airlines (TWA). He spent 15 years at United Airlines in a variety of roles as director, vice president and senior vice president. His portfolio at the airline included commercial alliances and joint ventures, international and regulatory affairs, and strategic counsel to the chairman and chief executive officer on international matters.Whitaker served as Group CEO of InterGlobe Enterprises.There, he oversaw strategy and operations for four affiliate travel companies.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Whitaker_(government_official)

    • SirSamuel@lemmy.world
      111·
      15 days ago

      I don’t know why you were downvoted because those are pure facts

      (i assume you wish for Whitaker to be fornicated, not the OP)