Key US Lawmakers Slam Boeing CEO’s Testimony on 737MAX

(Source: Bloomberg News; published Nov. 04, 2019)

Boeing Co.’s chief executive officer didn’t provide complete testimony last week on the 737 Max, and congressional investigators are continuing their probe of the troubled jetliner, two House leaders said in a letter to other lawmakers on Monday.

Boeing’s Dennis Muilenburg, who endured hours of grilling by members of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Oct. 30, left “a lot of unanswered questions, and our investigation has a long way to go to get the answers everyone deserves,” said Representative Peter DeFazio, chairman of the committee, and Representative Rick Larsen, leader of its aviation sub-panel.

“Mr. Muilenburg’s answers to our questions were consistent with a culture of concealment and opaqueness and reflected the immense pressure exerted on Boeing employees during the development and production of the 737 Max,” the lawmakers said in the letter.

The letter summarized testimony and documents revealed by the committee, such as a 2015 warning by a Boeing engineer that the system later involved in two fatal crashes wasn’t sufficiently redundant. The committee also raised concerns about whether the design met the company’s own criteria, and if pilots could be expected to handle the emergencies that occurred in the crashes.

“To summarize our key concerns, our investigation shows that from almost the start, Boeing had a bad design on MCAS with a single point of failure,” the lawmakers said in the letter, referring to the system implicated in the crashes.

Muilenburg, who also testified Oct. 29 before the Senate, acknowledged mistakes were made and said the company has taken numerous steps to redesign the 737 Max and to prevent such missteps in the future.

Boeing didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter. (end of excerpt)

Click here for the full story, on the Bloomberg website.

(ends)

U.S. House Democrats to Continue Probe After Boeing Testimony (excerpt)

WASHINGTON --- The chairman of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the head of its aviation subcommittee said on Monday that it will continue its investigation into two fatal 737 MAX crashes after Boeing’s testimony prompted new questions.

Representatives Peter DeFazio and Rick Larsen said in a joint letter to fellow lawmakers that Boeing Co Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg’s answers at Wednesday’s hearing “were consistent with a culture of concealment and opaqueness and reflected the immense pressure exerted on Boeing employees during the development and production of the 737 MAX.”

The letter said the victims’ loved ones “deserve a thorough investigation from our Committee about how the regulatory system and the law failed, and that’s exactly what our committee intends to do.”

Boeing spokesman Gordon Johndroe said Monday the company “will continue to cooperate with the committee.” The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) declined to comment.

Muilenburg and Boeing Commercial Airplanes Chief Engineer John Hamilton’s testimony prompted “a litany of new questions for both Boeing and the FAA about the failures that led to the tragic and unnecessary deaths of 346 innocent people.” (end of excerpt)

Click here for the full story, on the Reuters website.

-ends-

Let's block ads! (Why?)

from Defense Aerospace - Press releases https://ift.tt/33jAlb4
via Defense