DALLAS - The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has revealed that it has drafted a policy which will require manufacturers to disclose critical safety information during the certification process of new airliners.

These new policy documents will require plane makers to tell the agency if they have made significant changes that are “considered novel or unusual, and therefore require additional scrutiny.” The public now has a chance to comment until August 25.

737 MAX Fallout

In 2020 Congress passed a law to reform the FAA’s certification process after it was heavily criticized following the fallout from two fatal Boeing 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019. A subsequent investigation revealed that Boeing had failed to disclose details to the FAA of the MCAS safety system. A US Senate report also noted that the FAA needed to review any allegations against Boeing raised by whistleblowers and more closely oversee airframe certification.

Since Congress passed the law, the FAA has been much stricter with the US manufacturer. This included the decision in March 2022 to renew Boeing’s Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) for three years instead of the five the plane make had requested.

Boeing is still awaiting FAA certification of its 737-7 and 737-10 after the safety management system paperwork was heavily scrutinized. In its Q2 2023 financial results, it said that the first delivery of the -7 has been further delayed until 2024. Meanwhile, certification flight testing of the -10 will commence later this year, with deliveries also scheduled to begin in 2024.

https://airwaysmag.com/boeing-q2-2023-results/

Featured Image: Max Langley/Airways.