(27 Mar 2019) The head of the Federal Aviation Administration was grilled by lawmakers Wednesday after the two deadly crashes of Boeing's new 737 Max planes raised questions of whether the FAA has gone too far in letting companies regulate themselves.
Speaking at a hearing of the Senate Commerce Committee's aviation subcommittee, Senator Ted Cruz said the Boeing 737 Max crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia and reports about how the plane was approved by the FAA have shaken the public's confidence.
Cruz, who chairs the subcommittee, said the crashes have raised questions about the FAA oversight of how airplanes are certified to fly.
Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut called the FAA's practices "safety on the cheap," saying Boeing rushed to get the 737 Max into the air to compete with Europe's Airbus, so critical safety features were disregarded.
Under the self-certifying program, employees of aircraft manufacturers perform tests and inspections that their companies need to win safety approvals, with the FAA overseeing that work.
The FAA and the industry insist it is a collaborative approach to safety that is vindicated by the U.S. safety record - one passenger accident death in the last 10 years and millions of flights.
Acting FAA Administrator Daniel Elwell said the strategy has "consistently produced safe aircraft designs for decades."
Elwell said the FAA would need 10,000 more employees and an additional $1.8 billion a year to do all the work now done by designated employees of the companies it regulates.
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