A Boeing logo is on the fuselage of a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft manufactured by Boeing Co. on display ahead of the opening of the Farnborough International Airshow in Farnborough, UK on Sunday 13 July 2014.
Simon Dawson / Bloomberg
Two key House Democrats are soliciting records from Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration after discovering production problems with the company’s 737 Max and 787 Dreamliner aircraft.
Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., Chair of the Transportation Committee, and Rick Larsen, D-Wash., Chair of the Aviation Sub-Committee, requested a list and descriptions of FAA inspections at the 737 manufacturing facility in Renton, Wash., Since 2017 and the Dreamliner South Carolina factory since 2015, according to a letter they sent to Dave Calhoun, CEO of Boeing, Tuesday that has been audited by CNBC.
Among other things, they requested records of supervision, the results of audits and the number of Boeing employees assigned to perform supervisory tasks at each location.
“While it is important that Boeing continue to voluntarily report such issues to the FAA, we are concerned that even after the longest civil airliner establishment in history, persistence of quality control and manufacturing defects – in two different cases – aircraft programs – remain “wrote the legislature. “This naturally raises questions about whether the FAA adequately oversees Boeing’s commercial aircraft programs, as well as Boeing’s internal quality controls and safety culture.”
The request comes less than a year after a report by the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure informed Boeing about the design and development of the 737 Max and the FAA for oversight failures. Two of these planes crashed between October 2018 and March 2019, killing all 346 people on the flights.
Boeing said last year it found the wrong clearance in some areas of the 787 fuselage. After inspections and a five-month break, delivery of the wide-body aircraft resumed in March. Regardless, an electrical issue with Boeing’s best-selling 737 Max grounded more than 100 aircraft in April, despite the FAA approving a solution last week.
Legislators asked for replies by June 8, but said that “continued production of these records will be considered if you cannot fully complete your answer by that date”.
A Boeing spokesman said the company is looking into the request.
The FAA did not respond immediately.
The agency announced last month that it was reviewing Boeing’s process for minor design changes, as well as the causes of the electrical problem on the 737 Max. This problem is not related to the system involved in the two major crashes.
