House committee report slams Boeing, FAA over 737 Max

March 6 (UPI) -- The House Transportation Committee cited Boeing Co. and aviation regulators for numerous design and safety problems of the 737 Max aircraft in findings released Friday.

The plane, Boeing's best seller, has been grounded worldwide after crashes in 2018 and 2019, five months apart, killed 346 people. The committee is examining Boeing's development of the plane and its approval by U.S. regulators.

The 17-page "preliminary investigative findings" center on five themes: that Boeing's cost-cutting pressures on the assembly line, with the 737 Max in competition with the Airbus A320neo aircraft, jeopardized the safety of the public; that Boeing made "faulty assumptions" regarding the planes' technologies, notably the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, a software solution to flight stability issues; that Boeing encourages a "culture of concealment" in withholding information from pilots, customers and the Federal Aviation Administration; that the FAA's oversight is compromised with the inclusion of Boeing employees on certification committees; and that Boeing has undue influence over FAA oversight.

Development of the 737 Max "was marred by technical design failures, lack of transparency with both regulators and customers, and efforts to obfuscate information about the operation of the aircraft," the report says. It adds that the FAA "certification review of Boeing's 737 MAX was grossly insufficient and that the FAA failed in its duty to identify key safety problems."

It cites a whistleblower's numerous examples of Boeing's attempts to lower the planes' costs of production, as well as a 2016 internal survey in which 39 percent of Boeing employees reported "undue pressure," with 29 percent concerned about consequences if they reported that pressure. The survey can be seen as "painting a disturbing picture of cultural issues at Boeing that can undermine safety and oversight," the report says.

"These preliminary investigative findings make clear that Boeing must create and maintain an effective and vigorous safety culture and the FAA must develop a more aggressive certification and oversight structure to ensure safe aircraft designs and to regain the confidence of the flying public," it concludes.

March 10 is the second anniversary of the second crash, an Ethiopian Airlines plane traveling from Addis Ababa to Nairobi. The first occurred in Indonesia. The accidents led to the grounding of all 737 Max planes, the departure of Boeing's CEO, financial stress for airlines around the world and the tarnishing of Boeing's image.