FAA forms 24-expert group to review Boeing safety management processes

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has selected a group of aviation experts who will review safety-related issues at Boeing.

The panel, consisting of 24 experts, will have nine months in which to review Boeing’s safety culture as well as safety management processes, before issuing both findings and recommendations to the manufacturer, according to FAA.

The expert group consists of aerospace and aircraft engine engineers from Pratt & Whitney, GE Aerospace and Gulfstream, as well as representatives of various airline labor unions and experts from both FAA and NASA. Executives of several US airlines American Airlines, United Airlines, and Southwest, which currently operate a large number of Boeing 737 MAX planes, will also be included on the panel.

“The review panel addresses a key requirement (Sec. 103) in the 2020 Aircraft Certification, Safety, and Accountability Act,” the regulator explained in its statement.

The regulator was supposed to appoint the panel during 2021, following the Congress 2020 law reform defining updated procedures on how the FAA must certify new aircraft. However, it missed the deadline and the expert group was confirmed by the FAA on January 5, 2023.