A panel appointed after two fatal crashes involving Boeing 737 MAX 8 airplanes says the process used by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for aircraft certification is sound, but changes should be made to aid in identifying and mitigating risk.
The aircraft certification committee — appointed by Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao in April 2019 after the two crashes — released its report Thursday, concluding that “overall, the FAA’s certification … is effective.”
Nevertheless, the committee’s report included a series of suggestions calling for expanding requirements for safety management systems to include aircraft design and manufacturing organizations and also for expanding system safety assessments, which play a key role in safety risk management.
Other recommendations called for improved data collection, coordination among FAA offices working on aircraft certification, enhancement of the FAA’s use of delegation in the certification process, de…
