Aircraft
Review Panel Faults FAA, Boeing in Max Certification Report
The JATR panel cited the FAA for inadequate awareness of the function of the 737 Max's MCAS and Boeing for “undue pressures” on members of its ODA staff.
A Lion Air Boeing 737 Max 8 approaches Soekarno–Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Indonesia. (Photo: Flickr Creative Commons)
A Lion Air Boeing 737 Max 8 approaches Soekarno–Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Indonesia. (Photo: Flickr Creative Commons)

The FAA could not have properly assessed Boeing’s proposed certification activities associated with the Boeing 737 Max’s maneuvering characteristics augmentation system (MCAS) due to the agency’s inadequate awareness of the system’s function and its “limited involvement” in oversight, according to a panel of global authorities charged with examining the circumstances that might have contributed to the crashes of the model in Indonesia and Ethiopia. In a report issued Friday, the Joint Authorities Technical Review (JATR) panel also cited “undue pressures” on members of Boeing’s organization designation authorization (ODA) apparatus performing certification activities on the Max.