波音737马克斯停飞15个月后，立法者指控联邦航空管理局(美国联邦航空局)阻挠他们对问题飞机认证的调查，并引入两党立法，如果通过，将改革该机构认证飞机的方式。
周三是参议院商业委员会对波音737 Max展开调查以来举行的第三次听证会波音飞机在两起导致346人死亡的致命车祸后。
2019年3月，埃塞俄比亚航空公司302号航班在起飞后仅6分钟就在亚的斯亚贝巴机场附近坠毁，机上人员全部遇难。这是五个月内第二起涉及波音737 Max的坠机事件。2018年10月，雄狮航空610航班在印度尼西亚海岸坠入爪哇海之前仅飞行了13分钟。
罗杰·威克参议员，小姐。在他的开幕词中，他对联邦航空局对委员会的大部分文件要求“缺乏反应能力”表示“深感沮丧”——其中一些文件与波音737马克斯的认证直接相关。
柳克说，没有回应迫使委员会工作人员在10月份寻求与联邦航空局工作人员的面谈，但这些要求的“回应和处理”一直“非常缓慢”——导致在7个月内采访了4名联邦航空局工作人员。
“很难不得出你在联邦航空局的团队故意试图让我们蒙在鼓里的结论，”维克说。他补充说，他只能假设该机构对委员会调查的“阻挠”表明“对最终可能披露的事情感到不安。”
2019年12月11日，联邦航空管理局局长史蒂夫·迪克森在众议院交通和基础设施委员会听证会上作证。
马萨诸塞州参议员理查德·布卢门撒尔。他告诉美国联邦航空局局长史蒂夫·迪克森，他认为自从迪克森于8月12日接管该局以来，“联邦航空局的保密文化只会更加恶化”，如果他不能做出更积极的回应，他就看不到继续工作的可能。
“事实是，联邦航空局一直是同谋这些撞车事故因为没有进行更认真的监督，”布卢门撒尔说。
迪克森反驳了该机构“反应迟钝”的说法，告诉立法者他“完全致力于监督过程”
迪克森说:“我听到了你的沮丧，我不同意。“我正在努力促进一种文化，这种文化既包括机构内部，也包括我们所有利益相关者的透明和公开。”
波音公司的737 Max仍是众多正在进行的调查的对象，包括美国司法部和证券交易委员会的调查。
737最大坠毁会导致飞机认证方式的改变吗?
周二，威克参议员和华盛顿的玛丽亚·坎特威尔参议员在一起。，介绍了2020年的飞机安全和认证改革法案。
根据国会授权的当前组织指定授权(ODA)计划，一些飞机认证过程被授权给波音这样的制造商。官方发展援助项目的批评者说，波音能够影响737马克斯的认证这一事实代表了利益冲突。然而，一些人为该计划辩护，并说在飞机认证过程中从头到尾有足够的联邦航空局监督。
2019年3月11日，救援人员在埃塞俄比亚亚的斯亚贝巴南部的比索图或德布雷宰特附近的埃塞俄比亚航空公司坠机现场工作。
迪克森称官方发展援助是一个“基于信任”的过程
“我会说这是一个信任但验证的系统，”迪克森解释道，“这是一种特权，必须赢得。”
坎特威尔表示，如果获得通过，新法案将“修改官方发展援助”，并“确保联邦航空局继续处于认证的主导地位”
“我们的法案将结束任何自我认证的表象，”坎特威尔声称。
737麦克斯什么时候能再次飞行?
波音公司的目标是消息人士向美国广播公司证实，本月底，该公司与美国联邦航空局飞行员进行了737最大认证试飞，这是飞机最终解体的关键一步。
据两家美国航空公司的消息来源称，上周，波音公司向航空公司发送了未经批准的飞行员培训材料草稿，以“协助”他们开发自己的培训项目。
这些迹象表明，波音公司已经超过一年的修改过程即将结束。然而，知情人士解释说，即使美国联邦航空局的认证飞行发生在本月底，最大值也不太可能在9月前取消。
迪克森在周三的开幕词中重申，美国联邦航空局的“程序不受日程表或时间表的指导”，并且“安全是驾驶考虑”
2019年7月17日，在华盛顿特区，代表埃塞俄比亚航空公司302号航班家属的ET302号航班受害者萨姆亚·斯图莫(Samya Stumo)的父亲迈克尔·斯图莫(Michael Stumo)和保罗·恩乔戈(Paul Njoroge)在众议院运输和基础设施航空小组委员会关于“航空安全状况”的听证会上作证。
作为一名前空军和商业飞行员，迪克森再次在立法者面前保证，他不会在飞机上签字，直到他亲自驾驶飞机，一旦他确信他会“毫不犹豫地”把自己的家人送上飞机
认证飞行后，下一个障碍是建立飞行员培训要求。每家美国航空公司还必须获得美国联邦航空局批准的个人培训计划，并培训飞行员，预计这需要一些模拟时间。
麦克斯美国最大运营商的首席执行官、西南航空首席执行官加里·凯利表示，他预计麦克斯将在第四季度末恢复运营。
Lawmakers accuse FAA chief of 'stonewalling' investigation into Boeing 737 Max
Fifteen months after the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max, lawmakers accused theFederal Aviation Administration(FAA) of stonewalling their investigation into the certification of the troubled jet and introduced bipartisan legislation that if passed will reform the way the agency certifies aircraft.
Wednesday marked the third hearing the Senate Commerce Committee has held on the Boeing 737 Max since it launched its investigation into theBoeing planefollowing two fatal crashes that killed a total of 346 people.
Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed near Addis Ababa airport just six minutes after takeoff, killing all on board, in March 2019. It was the second crash involving a Boeing 737 Max within five months. In October 2018, Lion Air Flight 610 was airborne for only 13 minutes before it plunged into the Java Sea off the coast of Indonesia.
Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., in his opening statement expressed "profound frustration" with the FAA's "lack of responsiveness" to most of the committee's requests for documents -- some of them directly relating to the certification of the Boeing 737 Max.
Wicker said the lack of responses forced committee staff to seek interviews with FAA staff in October, but the "response and handling" of those requests has been "very slow" -- resulting in the interviews of four FAA staff members within seven months.
"It's hard not to conclude your team at the FAA has deliberately attempted to keep us in the dark," Wicker said, adding he can only assume that the agency's "stonewalling" of the committee's investigation "suggests discomfort for what might ultimately be revealed."
Steve Dickson chief of the Federal Aviation Administration, testifies before the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure during a hearing on Dec. 11, 2019.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Mass., told FAA Administrator Steve Dickson he believes since Dickson took control of the agency on Aug. 12 the "culture of secrecy at the FAA has only been aggravated" and that he sees no way he can continue in his job if he fails to be more responsive.
"The fact of the matter is that the FAA has been complicit inthese crashesby failing to do more diligent oversight," Blumenthal said.
Dickson pushed back against the portrayal of the agency as "unresponsive," telling lawmakers he is "totally committed to the oversight process."
"I hear your frustration and it is not OK with me," Dickson said. "I am trying to promote a culture, both within the agency, and really with all of our stakeholders of transparency and openness."
Boeing’s 737 Max is still the subject of numerous ongoing investigations, including probes by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Will the 737 Max crashes lead to changes in the way aircraft are certified?
On Tuesday, Sen. Wicker alongside Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., introduced The Aircraft Safety and Certification Reform Act of 2020.
Under the current Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) program mandated by Congress,some of the aircraft certification process is delegatedto manufacturers like Boeing. Critics of the ODA program say the fact that Boeing was able to influence the certification of the 737 Max represents a conflict of interest. However, some defend the program and say that there is sufficient FAA oversight from start to finish during the aircraft certification process.
In this March 11, 2019, rescuers work at the scene of an Ethiopian Airlines flight crash near Bishoftu, or Debre Zeit, south of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Dickson referred to ODA as a process that is "based on trust."
"I would say it's a trust but verify system," Dickson explained, "and it's a privilege, it has to be earned."
Cantwell said that if passed, the new bill would "revamp the ODA" and "make sure that the FAA stay's in the driver's seat of certification."
"Our bill will end any semblance of self certification," Cantwell claimed.
When will the 737 Max fly again?
Boeing is aiming to conductits 737 Max certification test flight(s) with FAA pilots -- a key step in the eventual ungrounding of the plane -- at the end of the month, sources confirmed to ABC News.
Last week Boeing sent airlines draft, unapproved pilot training materials "to assist" them" in the development of their own training programs," according to sources at two U.S. airlines.
These are signs that Boeing is getting closer to the end of its already more than year-long revision process. However, even if the FAA certification flight occurs at the end of this month, it is unlikely the MAX will be ungrounded before September, sources familiar with the matter explained.
Dickson repeated in his opening statement on Wednesday that the FAA’s "process is not guided by a calendar or schedule" and that "safety is the driving consideration."
Michael Stumo, father of Flight ET302 victim Samya Stumo, and Paul Njoroge, representing the families of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, testify before a House Transportation and Infrastructure Aviation Subcommittee hearing on "State of Aviation Safety" in the aftermath of two deadly Boeing 737 MAX crashes since October, in Washington, D.C., July 17, 2019.
A former Air Force and commercial pilot, Dickson pledged again in front of lawmakers that he will not sign off on the aircraft until he flies the plane himself and once he is satisfied that he would put his own family on it "without a second thought."
After the certification flight, the next hurdle is establishing pilot training requirements. Each U.S. airline must also get its own individual training plans approved by the FAA, and train its pilots, which is expected to require some simulator time.
The CEO of the largest U.S. operator of the Max, Southwest CEO Gary Kelly, has said he expects the Max will return to service by the end of the fourth quarter.
