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| Boeing's 737 MAX planes, including those owned by American Airlines, seen here in March 2019, have been grounded following recent accidents (AFP Photo/JOE RAEDLE) |
Washington (AFP) - Boeing and US aviation regulators are coming under intense scrutiny over the certification of the 737 MAX aircraft after news that two recent crashes share similarities.
On March
11, just a day after the Ethiopia crash left 157 dead, a grand jury in
Washington issued a subpoena to at least one person involved in the plane's
certification, according to a Wall Street Journal article citing people close
to the matter.
The
subpoena, which came from a prosecutor in the Justice Department's criminal
division, seeks documents and correspondence related to the plane, according to
the report.
A criminal
inquiry is "an entirely new twist," said Scott Hamilton, managing
director of the Leeham Company, who recalled a probe of a 1996 ValuJet crash as
the only other aviation probe that was not a civil investigation.
"Unlike
France, where criminal investigations into aviation accidents seems common, it
is very, very rare in the US," Hamilton added.
The
Transportation Department's inspector general also is probing the approval of
the 737 MAX by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), The Wall Street
Journal also reported. Neither department responded to requests for comment
from AFP.
The probe
is focusing on the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS,
implicated in the Lion Air crash, which authorities have said shared
similarities with the latest accident.
The
Ethiopian Airlines crash on March 10 came less than five months after a 737 MAX
8 operated by Lion Air crashed in Indonesia, killing 189.
While it
may take months for definitive conclusions, Ethiopian officials said Sunday
there were "clear similarities" between the two catastrophes based on
information from the flight data recorder.
The two
incidents have prompted air transport regulators to ground 737 MAX aircraft
worldwide, a surprising setback for a line of jets that has been flying for
less than two years and is Boeing's top seller.
An
investigation by The Seattle Times -- in the city where Boeing has a large
manufacturing presence -- showed numerous problems with the MCAS, including
that it would repeatedly override a pilot's actions based on one faulty sensor.
The paper asked for a response from Boeing and the FAA at least a week prior to
the latest crash.
Shares of
Boeing dropped another 1.8 percent on Monday to $372.28. The company has fallen
about 12 percent since the Friday before the crash.
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Maps and
factfile on the Ethiopian Airlines crash on March 10, 2019 and
the Lion Air
crash on October 29, 2018 (AFP Photo/Gal ROMA)
|
FAA
officials had no comment Monday on the investigations but reaffirmed that the
certification for the plane followed standard procedure.
Boeing said
it followed the rules in bringing the plane to the market.
"The
737 MAX was certified in accordance with the identical FAA requirements and
processes that have governed certification of all previous new airplanes and
derivatives," Boeing said.
"The
FAA considered the final configuration and operating parameters of MCAS during
MAX certification and concluded that it met all certification and regulatory
requirements."
Later
Monday, Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg sought to reassure clients and passengers
of the firm's commitment to safety in a video message.
"Safety
is at the core of who we are at Boeing, and ensuring safe and reliable travel
on our airplanes is an enduring value and our absolute commitment to
everyone," Muilenburg said.
"Soon
we'll release a software update and related pilot training for the 737 MAX that
will address concerns discovered in the aftermath of the Lion Air Flight 610
accident."
Auto-certification?
The 737 MAX
was certified as a variant of the 737 Next Generation, the plane it replaced,
despite major differences in the engine and the addition of the MCAS, according
to documents available on the FAA's website.
The motors
on the new plane are heavier than in the 737 NG, posing more of a risk of
stalling, so the MCAS was designed to protect against the possibility. But the
Lion Air accident showed the system can erroneously correct for a stall when
the plane is taking off, based on one bad sensor, and continuously fight the
pilot for control.
US pilots
complained to Boeing about the issues following the Lion Air crash.
Because of
budget constraints, the FAA delegated aspects of the approval process to Boeing
itself, according to sources.
Under a
program, known as the Organization Designation Authorization (ODA), employees
of Boeing are accredited by the FAA to assist in approving the aircraft --
including design, production, flight tests, maintenance and other systems -- as
well as signing off on the training procedures of pilots on new planes.
The FAA
last week said it already had ordered Boeing to develop a fix for problems with
the MCAS system. But the agency was not able to describe any changes in the
plane implemented by Boeing after the Lion Air accident.
According
to one aviation expert who requested anonymity, Boeing had readied some
modifications for the system by the end of 2018 but the regulatory approval and
subsequent installation of the changes were delayed by the five-week US
government shutdown.
Legislators
Peter DeFazio, chairman of the House of Representatives Transportation and
Infrastructure Committee, and Ted Cruz, who chairs a Senate transportation
subcommittee, have each called for hearings to look into the 737 MAX's
certification.
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