REVIEW-Boeing Dodges Bullet Over Iran Crash But New CEO Calhoun Still Has Issues To Settle

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th January, 2020) Iran's admission that it accidentally shot down Boeing 737-800 NG plane of Ukraine Airlines eased pressure on Boeing Co, as the US planemaker emerges from a year imperiled by the worst record of safety in its century-old history over two high-profile crashes of Boeing 737 MAX planes.

When the crash in Tehran took place, fears emerged that it might have been caused by a technical malfunction on the 737-800 NG plane, which is a predecessor of 737 MAX that has been grounded globally in the wake of the deadly accidents in Ethiopia and Indonesia, caused by technical issues.

However, Iranian forces took the blame on Friday for firing at Flight 752 that they mistook as a US fighter jet responding to Tehran's strikes on American military bases in Iraq.

Still, Boeing's new Chief Executive David Calhoun, whose appointment formally starts Monday, has various other issues to settle to restore Boeing from the crisis left by his predecessor Dennis Muilenburg.

Boeing was roasted again in the public eye this week after US regulators fined the company for cover-ups over defects to its 737 MAX jets that remain grounded for nearly a year after two crashes that killed almost 350 people.

Moreover, internal communications on the MAX, which went viral on social media, showed Boeing employees battering their own company, culture and products.

Boeing remained defensive against the employee grouses on Friday while saying that Muilenburg will get more than $60 million in pension benefits and stock despite being sacked for his handling of the 737 MAX crisis.

"346 people died. And yet, Dennis Muilenburg pressured regulators and put profits ahead of the safety of passengers, pilots, and flight attendants. He'll walk away with an additional $62.2 million. This is corruption, plain and simple," US Senator Elizabeth Warren, a candidate in the upcoming presidential election, said in a tweet that referred to the death toll from the two MAX flight crashes.

The US Justice Department is investigating, among others, criminal activity in the handling of the 737 MAX by Boeing, as countries around the world banned the plane from flying since mid-March last year.

The investigations follow the fatal Lion Air crash in late October 2018 and an Ethiopian Airlines crash in March last year blamed on the faulty Manoeuvring Characteristics Augmentation System of the MAX.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has proposed a $5.4 million penalty fee against Boeing for allegedly installing defective parts on its 737 MAX aircraft. The regulator had earlier slapped a near $4 million penalty against Boeing for allegedly installing the same defective nonconforming components on an estimated 133 Boeing 737 NG aircraft.

Besides the fines, the FAA has also censured Boeing for failing to properly oversee its suppliers to ensure they complied with its quality control standards. The regulator said Boeing knowingly submitted the aircraft for final FAA airworthiness certification, even after determining that the parts could not be used due to a failed strength test.

PROVOCATIVE LANGUAGE OF INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS

But what really seared the public consciousness were the communications within Boeing leading up to the MAX crashes.

The publication of a wave of emails between Boeing employees included profane and vitriolic messages that, among others, referred to the company's plane designers as "clowns" and its supervisors "monkeys".

The communications were released by Boeing to regulators and lawmakers in an attempt by the company to come clean on the saga.

Taken collectively, the texts suggested a company culture rife with serious violations, cover-ups and attempts to save money at the risk to passenger safety.

An internal March 2017 email indicated that Boeing vowed to block efforts to require additional simulation training, due to differences between the MAX and 737 NG, by lobbying aviation regulators. Simulator sessions typically require substantial time and money.

"I want to stress the importance of holding firm that there will not be any type of simulator training required to transition from NG to MAX," Boeing's 737 chief technical pilot was quoted saying on that email.

Boeing will not allow that to happen, the chief technical pilot added.

"We'll go face to face with any regulator who tries to make that a requirement," the pilot wrote.

Notably, Boeing's statement earlier this week said that it was recommending more simulator flights for its 737 MAX pilots while awaiting the FAA to lift the grounding order on the jets.

PLANEMAKER VOWS OVERHAUL; REGULATORS UNIMPRESSED

The FAA said the internal communications submitted by Boeing did not raise new safety issues. But it said the "tone and content of the language" in the correspondences was "disappointing".

Boeing itself noted that the communications contained provocative language, and, in certain instances, raised questions about interactions with the FAA on the simulator qualification process.

The messages "do not reflect the company we are and need to be", and were "completely unacceptable", Boeing said in a statement.

It said it provided the communications to the FAA and the US Congress to reflect its commitment to transparency and cooperation with the authorities investigating the MAX crashes.

Boeing indicated it will act against staff it deemed had sullied its image with wrong accusations.

"This will ultimately include disciplinary or other personnel action, once the necessary reviews are completed," the company statement said.

Lawmakers in Congress however, seemed to take the side of the employees and appeared unimpressed with Boeing's pledges for overhaul.

House Transportation Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio said the internal memos painted a "deeply disturbing picture of the lengths Boeing was apparently willing to go in order to evade scrutiny from regulators, flight crews, and the flying public".

Senator Roger Wicker, leading a key Senate probe into Boeing, went further, targeting the FAA. The messages "raise questions about the efficacy of [the] FAA's oversight of the certification process", Wicker said.