A soon-to-be-finished report produced by the Joint Authorities Technical Review (JATR) has been reported by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) as criticizing the U.S. approval process for Boeing’s 737 MAX jet.
It is understood that the panel, which includes air-safety regulators from Canada, China, Indonesia, the UAE, the EU, Brazil and the U.S., will call out the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for what it says is a lack of clarity and transparency in the way it delegated authority to Boeing to evaluate certain flight-control features. In addition, the FAA appeared to pay insufficient attention to a number of essential design changes.
JATR will likely demand greater data-sharing and transparency among different governments, the WSJ reported, with the draft report recommending a review and updating of FAA guidance and day-to-day certification procedures, thus ensuring the FAA’s early involvement in new onboard systems. “We look forward to the publication of the JATR report when it is complete,” a Boeing spokesperson said in a statement.
