An aerial photo shows Boeing 737 Max aircraft parked on the runway at the Boeing factory in Renton, Washington, on March 21, 2019.
Lindsey Wasson | Reuters
The Federal Aviation Administration is giving boeing 90 days to come up with a plan to improve quality control, the agency said Wednesday, less than two months after a door plug on a 737 Max came off 9 minutes after entering a Alaska Airlines flight.
Bolts needed to secure the unused door panel on the nearly new plane appeared to be missing, a preliminary investigation of Flight 1282 found earlier this month. The door plug was removed and reinstalled at Boeing's 737 Max factory in Renton, Washington.
It was the latest and most serious in a series of production problems on Boeing's best-selling plane.
“Boeing must commit to making real, deep improvements,” FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said in a statement, a day after meeting with Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun and the company's safety managers. “Achieving fundamental change will require sustained effort from Boeing leadership, and we will hold them accountable every step of the way, with mutually understood milestones and expectations.”
Boeing said in a statement that it would prepare a “comprehensive action plan with measurable criteria” and that its leadership team is “fully committed to meeting this challenge.”
The FAA is in the middle of an audit of Boeing's 737 production lines. Last month, the agency said it would pause Boeing's planned increase in 737 Max planes until the regulator is satisfied with the company's quality control systems.
On Monday, an expert panel's report on Boeing found a “disconnect” between the manufacturer's top management and employees on safety culture. The report was requested by Congress after two crashes in 2018 and 2019 involving Boeing 737 Max planes, which killed everyone on board the flights.
The FAA said Wednesday that it expects Boeing's plan to include the results of the report and its audit, which is scheduled to be completed in the coming weeks.
“Based on our quality measures, the FAA audit findings, and the recent expert review panel report, we have a clear picture of what needs to be done,” Boeing said in its statement.
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