FAA ‘too hands off’, chief says, in Boeing oversight before 737 MAX 9 incident

He added there must be a “fundamental shift” in Boeing’s safety culture.

“We have been too much in reactive mode, waiting for some event to occur and analyzing the event to find out what to do differently. So we’re shifting to a much more proactive approach. On the manufacturing side, it’s introducing inspectors and coming up with clear indices to monitor performance,” Whitaker said.

Whitaker said the FAA has “additional inspections at critical points of the production process.”

On May 30, Boeing delivered a comprehensive quality improvement plan to the FAA after Whitaker in late February gave Boeing 90 days to develop a comprehensive plan to address “systemic quality-control issues.”

The National Transportation Safety Board said earlier the door panel that flew off a Boeing 737 MAX 9 jet mid-flight was missing four key bolts and no paperwork exists for the removal of those bolts. Whitaker confirmed no paperwork exists.

The Justice Department has opened a criminal probe into the MAX 9 incident.