On March 4, the Seattle Times reported that a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) audit of Boeing and supplier Spirit AeroSystems had found multiple instances of companies allegedly failing to comply with manufacturing quality control requirements.
The FAA action resulted from an accident on January 5, when Alaska Airlines flight 1282, operated by a Boeing 737-MAX 9, returned to Portland International Airport (PDX) after the left mid-exit door (MED) plug departed the plane, leading to a rapid decompression. The plane landed on runway 28L at PDX without further incident, and all occupants deplaned at the gate. Seven passengers and one flight attendant had minor injuries.
The FAA audit identified non-compliance issues in Boeing’s manufacturing process control, parts handling and storage and product control.
Last week, the FAA gave Boeing 90 days to come up with a detailed plan to get control of its quality management system, both in-house and at the supplier level.
The Boeing plan must address the findings in the FAA audit.
During an all-day safety meeting at FAA headquarters on February 27, FAA administrator Mike Whitaker informed top Boeing officials that the aircraft manufacturer must develop a comprehensive action plan to address its systemic quality-control issues to meet the FAA’s non-negotiable safety standards.
"Boeing must commit to real and profound improvements," Whitaker said after the meeting with Boeing CEO and president Dave Calhoun and his senior safety team. "Making foundational change will require a sustained effort from Boeing’s leadership, and we are going to hold them accountable every step of the way, with mutually understood milestones and expectations."
Whitaker told Boeing that he expects the company to provide the FAA with a comprehensive action plan within 90 days that will incorporate the forthcoming results of the FAA production-line audit and the latest findings from the expert review panel report, which is required by the Aircraft Certification, Safety, and Accountability Act of 2020.
The plan must also include action Boeing took to integrate its safety management system programme with a quality management system, which will ensure the same level of rigour and oversight is applied to the company’s suppliers and create a measurable, systemic shift in manufacturing quality control.
[caption id="attachment_1068432" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 -[/caption]
"Boeing must take a fresh look at every aspect of their quality-control process and ensure that safety is the company’s guiding principle," Whitaker said.
The accident triggered a 19-day emergency grounding of all Max 9s, and reignited scrutiny of Boeing by regulators after the fatal Max 8 crashes of 2018 and 2019.
On January 6, FAA issued an Emergency Airworthiness Directive (EAD) ordering the temporary grounding of certain Boeing 737- MAX 9 aircraft operated by US airlines or in US territory.
"The EAD requires immediate inspections of certain Boeing 737-9 MAX planes before the
