US Aviation Authorities decide to review Boeing 737 MAX aircraft due to production issues

Following dozens of complaints filed by the company’s employees regarding production issues, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Saturday said that it is planning to review control systems of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.

Boeing further declared in a statement that it will include experts from nine civil aviation authorities.

"The Joint Authorities Technical Review (JATR) will conduct a comprehensive review of the certification of the aircraft's automated flight control system, including its design and pilots' interaction with the system, to determine its compliance with all applicable regulations and to identify future enhancements that might be needed," the statement said.

The FAA further announced that the review of Boeing 737 MAX is set to begin on April 29 with expectations of it being continued for an estimated period of 90 days.

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As per global reports, the decision came after hundreds of pages of internal emails, corporate documents and federal records including interviews with more than a dozen current and former employees of the North Charleston plant which revealed a culture that often valued production speed over quality.

"Workers have filed nearly a dozen whistle-blower claims and safety complaints with federal regulators, describing issues like defective manufacturing, debris left on planes and pressure to not report violations," the report said.

"Others have sued Boeing, saying they were retaliated against for flagging manufacturing mistakes," it added.

Investigators have zeroed in on the system as a factor behind the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes in October and March respectively. The crashes killed a total of nearly 350 people altogether bringing the model 737 MAX under scrutiny.

The company therefore recently carried out an engineering test flight of a MAX plane with an updated Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) system, considered a key step on the path to re-certifying the plane for flight.

Boeing CEO, Dennis Muilenburg, who was also on board, vowed to make the 737 MAX "one of the safest airplanes ever to fly.

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(With PTI inputs)