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Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 – Boeing 737 Max and the FAA

Apr 17, 2021 | Crashes, Home

Katzman Lampert & Stoll is currently representing both the pilot and co-pilot in this case.

The Boeing 737 Max debacle has brought another very serious issue to the attention of the flying public. This issue has been one that we at Katzman, Lampert, and Stoll have been contending with for decades and it concerns the cozy relationship that exists between the Federal Aviation Administration and manufacturers. The Boeing 737 Max matter is not the first time this issue has been forefront in aviation. It has been the source of strife between the National Transportation Safety Board, the FAA, and manufacturers for years. The concept of “self certification” has been a reality for decades. The FAA’s delegated option authorization process allows the manufacturer to sit in the shoes of the FAA and certify compliance with regulations. It is the classic fox watching the henhouse syndrome. But even where the DOA process was not used, there is still a cozy relationship between the FAA and manufacturers.

In 2008 the United States House of Representatives condemned the FAA for having too cozy of a relationship with one aircraft manufacturer. This matter concerned allegations that the FAA rushed to issue a type certificate for the Eclipse EA-500 jet despite safety concerns with the design and manufacturing of the aircraft. After reviewing the allegations and record, members of Congress found that the FAA permitted exceptions to its usual design certification process before significant design problems were resolved. This cozy relationship went as far as to be characterized by the House members as an “IOU” where the FAA would certify in exchange for a promise that the manufacturer would eventually try to meet the design standard at a later date. When the Eclipse was certified it completed only 23 of the 65 required tests for certification! Consider some of the quotes taken directly from the report:

“FAA awarded Eclipse a production certificate even though the company failed to demonstrate the ability to replicate the approved design”

“Senior FAA management identified Eclipse as a priority certification and appeared to be lenient with the manufacturer”

“the FAA may have been more intent on promoting aviation and new technology than it was with its safety oversight mandate.”

“However, when the findings and assertions uncovered in this investigation are viewed in total, there is adisturbing suggestion that there was a “cozy relationship” and reduced level of vigilance on the FAA’s part during both the [type certificate] and [production certificate] approval process of the EA 500.”

Take the Boeing 787 Dreamliner as another example. That aircraft was supposed to be the state of the art revolution in what commercial airliners could become. However, lithium-ion battery ignited a fire in a Japan Airlines 787 Dreamliner causing an emergency landing. This ultimately led to the full scale grounding of the aircraft fleet. But it was Boeing’s political clout that resulted in the problem. During test flights of the Dreamliner in the certification process, there was an electrical failure and an emergency landing. //www.theguardian.com/business/2013/jan/18/boeing-787-dreamliner-grounded

In 2005, the FAA performed a special certification review of an aircraft piston engine manufacturer’s certification after a series of crankshaft failures. The review team found that the manufacturer had not been properly disclosing major and minor design changes to its engines. View the report here.

We at Katzman, Lampert and Stoll are presently at the forefront fighting against the cozy relationship between manufacturer and FAA. We are presently before the United States Supreme Court on a matter where the manufacturer is attempting to gain immunity from lawsuits for death and injury by virtue of having received an FAA type certificate. This immunity would extend all the way to Boeing for the deaths of those innocent people in Ethiopia and Indonesia and it would apply even when a manufacturer self certifies!

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