FAA misled Congress on inspector training for Boeing 737 Max, investigators say
A whistleblower has brought to light concerns about the training requirements for Boeing 737 Max pilots.
Investigators examining the complaint have concluded that safety inspectors were themselves “underqualified” — and that the Federal Aviation Administration provided misleading information about the issue to Congress, according to the Washington Post.
Questions about safety oversight at the FAA, have been added to concerns raised by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, after two new 737 Max jets it had certified as safe crashed in Indonesia and Ethiopia, killing 346 people.
In a letter to President Trump on Monday, Special Counsel Henry J. Kerner wrote that the “FAA’s official responses to Congress appear to have been misleading in their portrayal of FAA employee training and competency.”
In a statement, the FAA said: “We are reviewing the Special Counsel’s letter. We remain confident in our representations to Congress and in the work of our aviation safety professionals. Aviation safety is always our foremost priority, and we look forward to responding to the concerns that have been raised.”
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A point of disagreement has been whether FAA orders require aviation safety inspectors to have both formal classroom training as well as on-the-job training to do their jobs.