US: FAA should mandate safety management systems for Boeing, others: panel

An expert committee Thursday recommended the FAA require Boeing and other aircraft manufacturers to adopt new safety management tools in the wake of two fatal Boeing 737 MAX crashes that killed 346 people. The expert panel, led by a retired Air Force general and a former head of the Air Lines Pilot Association, also called for improvements in how the FAA certifies new planes. It did not back ending the long-standing practice of delegating some certification tasks to aircraft manufacturers. The panel, which was named by US Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao in April, recommended the FAA mandate Safety Management Systems (SMS) for “design and manufacturing organizations.” The FAA currently requires them for airlines. The special committee report released on Thursday said “unlike the current certification system’s focus on compliance, SMSs foster a holistic assessment of whether the combinations of actions such as design, procedures, and training work together to counter potential hazards.”<br/>