Boeing responds to US House committee report on grounded 737 MAX aircraft

American airplane giant Boeing has responded to a US House Committee report on the globally grounded 737 MAX aircraft, saying that it has incorporated many recommendations, as well as the results of its own internal reviews, into the fleet and the overall airplane design process after two fatal crashes.

The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure report concluded its 18-month investigation of the design, development and certification of the 737 MAX aircraft, and related matters, reports Xinhua news agency.

According to the report, the investigation has revealed multiple missed opportunities that could have turned the trajectory of the MAX's design and development toward a safer course due to flawed technical design criteria, faulty assumptions about pilot response times, and production pressures.

In its response on Wednesday, Boeing said that therevised design of the MAX has received intensive internal and regulatory review, including more than 375,000 engineering and test hours and 1,300 test flights.

The company said it has learned many hard lessons as a company from the accidents of Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 that killed 346 people, and from the mistakes it has made.

Once the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other regulators have determined the MAX can safely return to service, it will be one of the most thoroughly scrutinized aircraft in history, the company noted.

"We have set up a new safety organization to enhance and standardize safety practices, restructured our engineering organization to give engineers a stronger voice and a more direct line to share concerns with top management, created a permanent Aerospace Safety Committee of our Board of Directors as well as expanded the role of the Safety Promotion Center," the company said.

The House Committee report said that the FAA also missed its own opportunities to change the direction of the 737 MAX based on its aviation safety mission.

Boeing failed in its design and development of the MAX, and the FAA failed in its oversight of Boeing and its certification of the aircraft.

--IANS

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