FAA investigating Boeing for treatment of safety engineers

A group of Boeing safety engineers has raised concerns about their ability to work free of pressure from supervisors, prompting federal regulators to take a broader look into the aviation giant’s safety culture.

The concerned employees approve safety assessments and handle other jobs for the Federal Aviation Administration. The jobs they do make their independence from company pressure critical.

“I had to have a sit down with a manager and explain why I cannot approve something,” AP quoted an employee as saying in an FAA letter. The worker indicated that the company starting looking for another employee in the engineering unit.

Another employee said the managers consternate the engineers when they find fault in the designs of components because that can cause delays in airplane delivery.

The FAA’s initial investigation ran from May until July.

“We take these matters with the utmost seriousness and are continuously working to improve the processes we have in place to ensure the independence” of employees who work on behalf of the FAA, AP quoted Boeing spokeswoman Jessica Kowal as saying. 

Kowal said that the concerned employees “must be accorded the same respect and deference that is shown” to FAA personnel.

During the investigation, the FAA interviewed 32 of the roughly 1,400 Boeing employees who are working on the FAA’s behalf. About 33% of them raised concerns. The FAA has told Boeing that it will follow up by interviewing all employees in the unit, AP reported.

The FAA examination raises further questions about a longstanding practice of relying on employees of aircraft manufacturers to perform safety-related work, including analysis of critical aircraft systems. The policy is supposed to take advantage of the employees’ specialized knowledge, and the companies are supposed to give those workers authority to perform the safety-related functions without interference.

However, findings from Boeing “indicate the environment does not support independence” of the employees, Ian Won, an FAA official overseeing Boeing, said in the letter to the company.

The FAA’s policy of relying on safety assessments by industry employees, called organization designation authorization, came under intense scrutiny after two deadly crashes involving the Boeing 737 Max. Investigations determined that key people at the FAA were largely unaware of an automated flight-control system that played a role in the crashes.

(With AP inputs)