FAA defends qualifications of US MAX aviation safety inspectors

FAA acting administrator Dan Elwell last Thursday defended the qualifications of US FAA Aviation Safety Inspectors (ASI) involved with the Flight Standardization Board (FSB) for the Boeing 737 MAX 8, saying that “all of the flight inspectors who participated in the [FSB] certification activities were fully qualified.” His remarks, sent to US Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation chairman Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), came in response to an April 2 announcement that the committee is launching an investigation into the qualifications of the ASIs, citing whistleblower complaints alleging numerous FAA employees involved with the Aircraft Evaluation Group (AEG) for the Boeing 737 MAX had not received proper training and valid certifications. Elwell said the FAA’s Office of Audit and Evaluation had launched an investigation in November 2018 into whistleblower complaints from an ASI who alleged that safety inspectors with the AEG did not meet mandatory training requirements. He said the allegations were specific to the AEG, having nothing to do with inspectors working on the Flight Standardization Board (FSB) for the 737 MAX—although he did not address whether the probe had uncovered issues regarding the qualifications of FAA employees involved with the AEG who did not participate in the FSB.<br/>