WASHINGTON – The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is working to overhaul its internal processes for identifying and addressing aviation safety risks in the wake of a mid-air blowout on a Boeing jet, the agency’s top official plans to tell lawmakers on Sept 24.
The changes under way are intended to strengthen oversight across the agency, FAA administrator Michael Whitaker plans to tell members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s aviation panel.
FAA audits revealed a series of manufacturing and safety lapses at Boeing after a fuselage panel blew off a 737 Max jet shortly after takeoff in January.
The agency has since been criticised by some lawmakers for failing to catch those problems sooner.
Mr Whitaker will say that the FAA must establish more proactive oversight processes “that allow us to anticipate and identify risks before they manifest themselves as events”, according to a copy of his prepared remarks seen by Bloomberg.
Mr Whitaker has acknowledged that his agency should have been more hands-on in its oversight of Boeing prior to the January accident.
FAA has since taken steps to bolster its oversight, such as placing more inspectors on the ground at the plane maker’s factories.
Mr Whitaker also plans to say that the FAA is exploring ways to better use internal and external data “to become more predictive in identifying risks across the aviation system”.
Lawmakers are examining Boeing’s actions before and after the January accident, as well as the FAA’s role as the aviation industry’s chief watchdog.
Mr Whitaker is also slated to testify before an investigative subcommittee in the Senate on Sept 25.
Senate Commerce Committee chairwoman Maria Cantwell, a Washington Democrat, and Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois introduced legislation in August that would require the FAA to boost its
