FAA Disputes Claim Of Unqualified Staff -- WSJ

By Andy Pasztor 

This article is being republished as part of our daily reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S. print edition of The Wall Street Journal (April 6, 2019).

The acting chief of the Federal Aviation Administration has told lawmakers there were no systemic problems with the qualifications of key agency staff who helped establish pilot-training mandates for Boeing Co.'s grounded 737 MAX jet.

In a letter Friday to the chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Daniel Elwell said all of the FAA safety inspectors who served on an influential panel that set such requirements -- called the Flight Standardization Board -- were "fully qualified for these activities."

This past week, Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the Republican chairman of the committee, launched an investigation based on what he described as whistleblower allegations that some of those inspectors lacked the required qualifications for the task. The whistleblower wasn't identified, and the committee declined to provide details. But the committee set out to determine if the upshot may have been inadequate training mandates for the beleaguered Boeing plane, which went into service in 2017.

The 737 MAX was grounded world-wide last month in the wake of the second fatal overseas crash of recent months.

The FAA response directly disputes the crux of those whistleblower allegations. But in his letter, Mr. Elwell suggested the agency continues to look into the qualifications and training history of other FAA employees who supported the Flight Standardization Board's efforts. Those officials also weren't identified.

According to the acting FAA administrator's initial response to Mr. Wicker, related claims by the same whistleblower were substantiated and action already has been taken, based on an internal FAA investigation that began last year. Those claims include management retaliation against the whistleblower.

One of the results of the investigation was an FAA manager leaving the agency, according to the letter. The letter also suggests further personnel moves or administrative changes have occurred or may be coming, though it doesn't elaborate.

The FAA also promised to provide a more comprehensive response to lawmakers.

The issue of training for 737 MAX cockpit crews is significant because both Boeing and plane's launch customer, Southwest Airlines Co., were highly motivated to persuade the Flight Standardization Board to approve the least possible training for pilots.

Ultimately the board, and the FAA's leadership at the time, agreed that no additional ground-simulator training was necessary. That decision, however, is now under scrutiny by lawmakers, federal prosecutors and U.S Transportation Department officials in the wake of the two fatal crashes.

Write to Andy Pasztor at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 06, 2019 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)

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