SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Wednesday informed Boeing that it will not grant any production expansion of the MAX, including the 737-9 MAX.
This action comes on top of the FAA's investigation and ramped-up oversight of Boeing and its suppliers.
The FAA also approved a thorough inspection and maintenance process that must be performed on each of the grounded 171 Boeing 737-9 MAX aircraft. Upon successful completion, the aircraft will be eligible to return to service.
"The Jan. 5 Boeing 737-9 MAX incident must never happen again. Accordingly, the FAA is announcing additional actions to ensure every aircraft is safe," the agency said.
After completing the enhanced maintenance and inspection process on each aircraft, the door plugs on the 737-9 MAX will comply with the original design, which is safe to operate. This aircraft will only operate once the process is complete and compliance with the original design is confirmed.
The process will require an inspection of specific bolts, guide tracks and fittings, detailed visual inspections of left and right mid-cabin exit door plugs and dozens of associated components, retorquing fasteners, and correcting any damage or abnormal conditions, according to the FAA.
After grounding the Boeing 737-9 MAX aircraft in early January, the FAA has laid out a series of actions to increase oversight of Boeing's production lines.
"The quality assurance issues we have seen are unacceptable," said Whitaker. "That is why we will have more boots on the ground closely scrutinizing and monitoring production and manufacturing activities."
Increased oversight activities include capping expanded production of new Boeing 737 MAX aircraft to ensure accountability and full compliance with required quality control procedures.
The FAA said it is launching an investigation scrutinizing Boeing's compliance with manufacturing requirements. "The FAA will use the full extent of its enforcement authority to ensure the company is held accountable for any non-compliance."
The agency will also aggressively expand oversight of new aircraft with increased floor presence at all Boeing facilities, closely monitor data to identify risk and launch an analysis of potential safety-focused reforms around quality control and delegation.
The FAA will continue to support the National Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB) investigation into Alaska Airlines Flight 1282. The NTSB is in charge of the investigation and will provide any updates.
Recently, successive problems have occurred on Boeing airplanes, which raised doubts about the company's quality control among the public.
The FAA, Boeing's primary regulator, also faces criticism for giving aircraft makers too much freedom to regulate themselves during certification. ■
