WASHINGTON - Senate investigators concluded that Boeing “inappropriately coached” government pilots for a simulator test that was part of the Federal Aviation Administration’s efforts to ensure that the company’s 737 Max could be made safe to fly again after two deadly crashes.
The conclusion is contained in a report issued Friday by the Senate Commerce Committee on an investigation that was launched after the Max crashes but that ultimately broadened to unearth numerous safety problems across the FAA.
The July 2019 simulator test was designed to determine whether pilots could quickly react to faulty software implicated in the two crashes, which killed 346 people. A whistleblower alleged that Boeing officials prompted test pilots to be ready to use the correct controls to respond, telling them, “Remember, get right on that pickle switch.”
Even with that prompt, one of the pilots took four times longer to respond than Boeing and the FAA had assumed.
A Transportation Department lawyer prohibited an FAA employee, whom investigators understood to be one of the pilots, from answering questions about the incident in an interview, according to the report.
“The Committee concludes FAA and Boeing officials involved in the conduct of this test had established a predetermined outcome” to reaffirm their assumptions about pilot reactions, the investigators wrote.
The incident suggests that problems arising from the close relationship between Boeing and the FAA, which other investigators have said affected the initial safety certification of the Max, also affected at least the early stage of efforts to reauthorize the jets to fly.
“We have learned many hard lessons from the Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Flight 302 accidents, and we will never forget the lives lost on board,” Boeing said in a statement. “The events and lessons learned have reshaped our company and further focused our attention on our core values of safety, quality, and integrity.”
The FAA didn’t immediately respond Friday to a request for comment.
The 100-page report, which relies on thousands of documents and allegations from 57 whistleblowers, outlines problems with the FAA’s oversight of the aviation industry. Investigators concluded that whistleblowers regularly face retaliation and that private companies seek help from agency managers when inspectors seek to enforce safety rules. The report says “systemic deficiencies” at the FAA pose an “unnecessary risk to the flying public.”
Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., the committee’s chairman, said the investigation’s findings were troubling. “The report details a number of significant examples of lapses in aviation safety oversight and failed leadership in the FAA,” Wicker said in a statement.
Wicker and Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., the panel’s top Democrat, have proposed legislation to give the FAA greater independence from the industry and to strengthen whistleblower protections. The House passed a similar bill in November.
The Senate committee’s report comes a month after the FAA lifted its ban on the jetliner, which had been grounded for 20 months.
The two crashes, in Indonesia and Ethiopia, occurred five months apart and brought intense scrutiny to one of the United States’ most storied companies, Boeing, and the FAA.
Multiple investigations found issues with the process that the FAA followed for certifying that the newest version of Boeing’s 737 was safe, while raising questions about whether the agency was too deferential to the manufacturer.
In signing the order that allowed the jets to resume service, FAA AdministratorSteve Dickson said the global aviation community could be certain that the 737 Max was safe to fly. “We have not left anything to chance here,” he said. “I would put my own family on it, and we will fly on it.”
American Airlines will be the first U.S. carrier to resume 737 Max service. The airline will offer one daily round trip between Miami International and New York’s LaGuardia airports beginning Dec. 29, then will expand the number of Maxes in operation next year.
Senate investigators said the FAA and the Transportation Department were reluctant to take part in the committee’s review, delaying the release of documents to the committee and failing to make employees available for interviews.
“The level of cooperation by the FAA and DOT has been unacceptable and at times has bordered on obstructive,” investigators wrote.
While a similarly scathing report by the House Transportation Committee was more focused on problems with the initial design and approval of the Max, the Senate panel’s review was sweeping. It encompassed allegations about Southwest Airlines, cargo carrier Atlas Air, the training of FAA inspectors and the safety of small operators in Hawaii.
The report identified ongoing concerns with the FAA’s oversight of Southwest, saying agency leaders repeatedly failed to act when safety issues were raised.
The report cited an instance in October 2019 when the director of the agency’s office of audit and evaluation recommended that 49 planes Southwest purchased from foreign carriers be grounded until they could be properly inspected.
Dickson refused, giving the airline months to complete work to fix the problems, according to the report.
In a statement, Southwest said it has worked to improve its practices and oversight, adding, “The success of our business depends, in and of itself, on safety, and while we work to improve each and every day, we do not tolerate any relaxing of standards that govern ultimate safety across our operation.”
Whistleblowers who contacted the committee also provided examples of communications between FAA managers and those at companies they are charged with overseeing. The communications, according to the report, “clearly supported the perception of ‘coziness.’ "
Former FAA senior managers who now work in the private sector continue to deal directly with former supervisors and subordinates in their new jobs. A senior manager who retired from the government in 2016 serves as senior director of regulatory compliance and director of maintenance at Southwest Airlines, according to the report.
And a senior official at the airline told investigators that the company traded on its relationship with one of the FAA’s top officials to get “favorable treatment” from a local agency office.