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Last week’s statement from FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker, admitting that they basically let Boeing regulate themselves, caught some serious Senate attention. Charles Grassley announced on Friday that he’s personally “launching a new congressional oversight inquiry into the Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing.” Someone in the safety critical agency needs to explain how lapses could continue adding up, until a door panel blows out of a commercial jet 16,000 feet in the air.
Senate in a snit
The Senate isn’t dragging Pete Buttigieg into this yet, but he should be watching Charles Grassley’s latest project closely. That’s because it’s his agency which oversees the FAA. His Transportation Department also watches boats smash bridges, trains jump the tracks, and cargo ships sitting in limbo to unload.
Meanwhile, he’s been laser focused on the challenges he and his husband face raising their twins. Particularly, flight schedules which don’t match reality despite extreme weather.
Grassley’s probe in the Senate is only the latest in a string of congressional investigations popping up in the wake of the Alaska Airlines debacle. Someone forgot to tighten the bolts on a door panel. The inspector didn’t catch the mistake so nobody found out until the section blew out at 16,000 feet. It nearly sucked out a toddler. While that was in the headlines, Boeing was also getting bad press over suicidal whistleblowers doing themselves in just before giving crucial testimony.
🚨🇺🇸GOP TO BOEING: YOU ARE SO SCREWED
Sen. Chuck Grassley announced a new congressional oversight inquiry into the FAA and Boeing after a January mid-air emergency involving a 737 MAX 9.
The incident, where a door panel blew out during an Alaska Airlines flight, forced an… pic.twitter.com/uUzLg4Asa7
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) June 15, 2024
Allegations of safety shortcuts have been reported for the past decade. One whistleblower after another came forward to confirm the serious scope of the corruption. Every one of them were screaming for someone to do something before a preventable disaster kills hundreds of innocent people. The officials responsible turned the other way. They were comfortable doing nothing because Boeing promised to fix everything.
Grassley has been personally investigating Boeing safety issues since the 1990’s. He notes in the announcement regarding his latest Senate probe that the FAA “must explain how this happened and what is being done to ensure that it does not place the lives of Americans at risk again.”
This time around he has a list of 38 questions he wants FAA and Boeing to answer separately. He’s also “requesting records of safety procedures, regulatory requirements, corrective actions (and) whistleblower protections.”
Boeing flunked the audit
Another big story in recent headlines is the FAA audit which “found serious issues at Boeing.” Including many of the same ones which had been detected before. Boeing promised them they were fixed. For now, the agency “has capped the planemaker’s production of its best-selling 737 MAX.”
As far as Grassley’s latest Senate expedition to crawl up their backside with a microscope, the FAA declares they’ll “respond directly to the senator.” They aren’t about to give the press any good soundbites to use against them but “will continue to be responsive and transparent with Congress.”
Dave Calhoun is already on the way out as Boeing CEO but he gets to testify in front of the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations this week. Even Democrat Senator Richard Blumenthal is warming up his torture tongs for this one.
I'm not flying anywhere until the Biden Administration is gone.
Apparently, @PeteButtigieg and the rest of the FAA don't believe in ground equipment checks or normal safety procedures.Flying around in tainted titanium. No thanks.
— Lenore Taylor (@BolzMary) June 16, 2024
He made a few remarks earlier in June about the two fatal Boeing crashes in 2018 and 2019. Between them, those incidents killed 346 people. “Boeing made a promise to overhaul its safety practices and culture. That promise proved empty, and the American people deserve an explanation.”
Maria Cantwell agrees. She’s chair of the Senate Commerce Committee. She mentioned last week that “she could call Calhoun to appear at a future hearing.” Ted Cruz is also following along with interest, noting “he was disappointed Calhoun was not appearing before Commerce, which has jurisdiction over aviation safety.”
Calhoun promises to have his desk at Boeing cleaned out by the end of the year but will remain available “as Boeing faces multiple government investigations and pressure from investors and airlines to find a new CEO.“
