FAA audit finds Boeing quality control problems, ‘non-compliance issues’ after Alaska Airlines blowout
NY Post
The Federal Aviation Administration said the agency’s 737 MAX production audit into Boeing and supplier Spirit AeroSystems found multiple instances where the companies allegedly failed to comply with manufacturing quality control requirements.
The FAA also said it found “non-compliance issues in Boeing’s manufacturing process control, parts handling and storage, and product control.” The agency on Monday released a summary of its findings to the companies in its completed audit but did not make that public because it is part of an ongoing investigation, it said.
Spirit AeroSystems, which makes the fuselage for the MAX, said it is “in communication with Boeing and the FAA on appropriate corrective actions.” Boeing did not immediately comment.
Boeing confirmed on Friday it is in talks to buy Spirit AeroSystems, a former subsidiary which it spun off in 2005.
The FAA’s audit was prompted by a Jan. 5 mid-air emergency involving a new Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 that lost a door plug at 16,000 feet. The FAA previously barred Boeing from expanding 737 production and in January said “the quality assurance issues we have seen are unacceptable.”
Last week, FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said Boeing must develop a comprehensive plan to address “systemic quality-control issues” within 90 days following an all-day Feb. 27 meeting with CEO Dave Calhoun.
