Washington, DC [US], January 12 : The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced the launch of a formal investigation into whether aerospace giant Boeing followed rules to ensure that the aircraft it built were safe for operation, The Washington Post reported on Thursday.
The report, citing a letter issued by FAA to the Seattle-based company on Thursday, read, "Boeing may have failed to ensure its completed products conformed to its approved design and were in a condition for safe operation in accordance with quality system inspection and test procedures."
The development comes amid a blame game over last week's high-profile incident involving a Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft operated by Alaska Airlines. A door-like panel flew off during a flight, leaving a gaping hole in the plane. The incident left the passengers on board terrified and renewed scrutiny of a company that manufactured planes involved in two fatal air crashes in 2018 and 2019.
"This incident should have never happened and it cannot happen again," the agency said in a statement. "Boeing's manufacturing practices need to comply with the high safety standards they're legally accountable to meet."
The Washington Post reported that the FAA formally notified the company about the investigation in a letter.
Boeing did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Boeing's chief executive told employees during a company meeting Tuesday that the aerospace giant will acknowledge its "mistake" and be transparent as it attempts to move forward after the grounding of dozens of its 737 Max 9 aircraft over safety concerns.
"We're going to approach this No. 1 acknowledging our mistake," Dave Calhoun said, according to excerpts provided by the company. "We're going to approach it with 100% and complete transparency every step of the way."
The FAA previously announced it was grounding 171 Boeing Max 9 planes until formal inspections of the aircraft could be done. However, airlines have not been able to begin formal inspections due to a lack of clarity from Boeing and the FAA, which has a formal procedure required for the planes to resume flying. Alaska and United Airlines are the only two U.S. carriers that have the Boeing Max 9 planes in their fleets.
The National Transportation Safety Board, which is leading the investigation into the Jan. 5 accident, has recovered the part, known as a door plug, which investigators say will provide valuable clues as to why the part failed.
On Monday, India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) informed that checks on all over-wing emergency exits of Boeing B737-8 Max aircraft have been satisfactorily performed by all aircraft operators.
Earlier, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the top-most regulator for air travel in India, directed all airlines to carry out a one-time inspection of all the Boeing 737-8 aircraft in their fleet after the emergency landing of an Alaska Airlines flight after one of its doors blew up mid-air.
Earlier, a Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft, which was part of the operating fleet of the same carrier, on January 5, reported an in-flight departure of a mid-cabin door plug, resulting in rapid decompression of the aircraft.
While India doesn't have B737-9 Max aircraft in its fleet, currently, several carriers in the country have 43 B737 MAX planes in their fleet.
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