FAA Opens Extensive Safety Review of Boeing

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said on October 18 that it will open a three-month review into compliance with safety regulations at Boeing. The Guardian reports that the review continues the agency’s closer oversight of the company since a panel blew off a Boeing jetliner during an Alaska Airlines flight in January 2024.

The FAA said its review will examine key areas of safety processes at Boeing to make sure that they “result in timely, accurate safety-related information for FAA use.”

An FAA spokesperson said the review was not triggered by any particular event or concern, but rather is part of the FAA’s oversight of safety culture at the huge aircraft maker.

Boeing did not comment immediately on the new review.

Read More: FAA Audit Details Boeing's Pattern of 'Troubling Production Problems'

The FAA administrator, Mike Whitaker, has ordered special audits of Boeing, along with other measures to scrutinize the safety culture at the planemaker.

However, weaknesses in FAA oversight are limiting its ability to find and fix problems at Boeing, said the inspector general of the transportation department, the FAA’s parent agency, earlier in October.

In September, the National Transportation Safety Board issued an “urgent” recommendation to the FAA about a problem with rudders that pilots use to steer certain Boeing 737s after landing that surfaced in February 2024. Two weeks later, the FAA issued a safety alert to airlines about the problem.