FAA audit of Boeing’s 737 Max production reportedly found ‘dozens of issues’
U.S. air safety regulators found “dozens of problems” at facilities owned by Boeing and one of its key suppliers after a six-week audit of the production of the 737 Max jet, according to The New York Times.
U.S. air safety regulators found “dozens of problems” at facilities owned by Boeing and one of its key suppliers after a six-week audit of the production of the 737 Max jet, according to The New York Times.
The Federal Aviation Administration started the probe after a door panel blew off a 737 Max 9 flight on Alaska Airlines in early January, an incident that has attracted intense scrutiny of Boeing’s quality-control practices.
The NYT report, published Tuesday, was based on a review of an internal FAA slide presentation and offered a glimpse into the numerous issues found by auditors. Many of the problems fell under the category of failure to follow “approved manufacturing processes” and failure to keep proper quality control documentation, according to the Times.
FAA auditors found that out of 89 product audits that were conducted, Boeing passed 56 tests and failed 33 of them, according to the report.
During the six-week audit, the FAA also conducted 13 product audits that focused on Spirit AeroSystems, which makes fuselages for the Boeing 737 Max — of those, only six audits resulting in passing grades, and seven failed, the NYT said.
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