WASHINGTON, D.C., USA — In light of the recent crashes involving the Boeing 737-MAX aircraft, a couple of U.S. legislators are taking action.
Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Jack Reed (D-RI) are calling on the U.S. DOT Inspector General to review the certification process for Boeing 737s.
In a letter to IG Calvin L. Scovel III, the Senators acknowledged that while investigations for the two recent Boeing crashes are still ongoing, they want to make sure the certification process for the aircraft wasn't compromised in any way.
"In your audit, we request that you examine the approval process for the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), pilot training requirements for MCAS, and how Boeing communicated new features such as MCAS to customer airlines," the Senators wrote in their letter.
The crashes of the Lion Air Flight 610 and the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 caused 346 deaths this past year and have raised public concern about Boeing 737s.
Eight Americans were among those who died on the Ethiopian Airlines flight after the jet faltered and crashed Sunday, March 10 shortly after takeoff from Ethiopia's capital.
The Lion Air Flight crash happened months earlier in October 2018. The 2-month-old jet was found in the Java Sea, and black box investigations revealed the plane had experienced problems in earlier flights that were widely reported.
On Tuesday, March 26, a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-Max had to make an emergency landing in Orlando, Fla. after experiencing an engine problem, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
No passengers were aboard this plane, since the aircraft was set for storage in California. The crew returned to Orlando International Airport safely.
The entire letter to the IG by Sens. Collins and Reed reads as follows:
