Boeing 737 Max 9 door blowout: US Aviation watchdog increases oversight of Boeing
The image of door ripped off from the Alaska Airlines plane.
The United States Federal Aviation Administration announced on Friday (January 12) that it will increase its oversight on Boeing. The aviation agency has already opened a probe into the Alaska Airlines incident involving Boeing 737 MAX 9 which lost part of its fuselage while in air creating a near-catastrophic situation. But the pilots were able to safely land the plane and there were no major injuries or deaths.
ABC News has quoted FAA saying that the audit will "evaluate Boeing's compliance with its approved quality procedures." The federal aviation watchdog also said that it will also make an assessment of safety risks and quality oversight.
The aviation watchdog will also look into the Organisation Designation Authorisation programme (ODA) under which some certification processes are delegated to manufacturing companies like Boeing.
Watch | Boeing CEO: Will make sure mistake "can never happen again"
Michael Whitaker, the FAA Administrator has also been quoted as saying that the FAA is "exploring" whether is also needs to take on board an independent third party to oversee inspections and quality system within Boeing.
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"It is time to re-examine the delegation of authority and assess any associated safety risks," Whitaker said as quoted by ABC News
"The grounding of the 737-9 and the multiple production-related issues identified in recent years require us to look at every option to reduce risk," he further said.
On Friday, the FAA mentioned three points of increased oversight on Boeing:
- An audit to check Boeing 737 MAX 9 production line and the suppliers
- Increased focus on Boeing 737 in-service events.
- Assessment of safety risks related to "delegated authority and quality oversight and examination of options to move these functions under independent, third-party entities."
The latest announcement from the FAA has come just a day after it announced that it would launch a probe into Alaska Airlines incident.
What happened with Alaska Airlines plane?
On January 5, shortly after Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 took off from international airport in Portland, a door plug for the fuselage of the plane fell off. This resulted in a panel coming-off mid-air thereby depressurising the cabin and sending objects out of the gaping hole in the aircraft which was thousands of feet away from the ground. Fortunately, the pilots were able to gain control of the situation and make an emergency landing at Oregon.
Boeing faces PR setbacks and much more
Boeing's 737 series planes have been in news in recent yearsfor all the wrong reasons. Frequent issues and fatal crashes involving the 737 planes have brought Boeing, the aviation giant, into crosshairs of regulators across the world. Following fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019, Boeing 737 MAX aircraft were grounded across the world.
Also Read | Alaska Airlines mishap: All 737 Max 9 planes in US grounded as Boeing CEO accepts 'mistake'
The image of the company has taken a hit and its rival Airbus has gained from this. Since 2019, Boeing's shares have gone down by almost 40 per cent while Airbus shares have got a boost of 25 per cent in the same time period.
(With inputs from agencies)