Boeing Woes: FAA Investigates Damaged Aircraft, a Key Senator Investigates the Company, and 737 Production Slows

Federal officials said Thursday they are investigating an unusual rolling motion on a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 Max that might have been caused by a damaged backup power-control unit.

The Federal Aviation Administration said it was working with Boeing and the National Transportation Safety Board to investigate the May 25 incident, which happened on a flight from Phoenix to Oakland, California.

The FAA said the plane went into a “Dutch roll,” the name given to the combination of a yawing motion when the tail slides and the plane rocks from wingtip to wingtip. It is said to mimic the movement of a Dutch ice skater.

Pilots are trained to recover from the condition, and the Southwest plane landed safely in Oakland. There were no injuries reported among the 175 passengers and six crew members.

According to a preliminary report by the FAA, an inspection after the plane landed showed damage to a unit that provides backup power to the rudder.

The FAA said other airlines have not reported similar issues.

Senator Grassley launches new probe into Boeing, FAA

Republican U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley said on Friday he is launching a new congressional oversight inquiry into the Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing after a January mid-air emergency involving a 737 MAX 9.

The probe is the latest in a series of investigations by lawmakers since a door panel blew out during a Jan. 5 flight on a new Alaska Airlines MAX 9, forcing pilots to make an emergency landing while passengers were exposed to a gaping hole 16,000 feet above the ground.

Grassley, who first probed Boeing safety actions in the 1990s, said Boeing and the FAA “must explain how this happened and what is being done to ensure that it does not place the lives of Americans at risk again.”

He asked the FAA and Boeing to answer a total of 38 questions “requesting records of safety procedures, regulatory requirements, corrective actions (and) whistleblower protections.”

An FAA audit found serious issues at Boeing, while the FAA has capped the planemaker’s production of its best-selling 737 MAX.

The FAA said it would “respond directly to the senator.” Boeing said it “will continue to be responsive and transparent with Congress.”

Outgoing Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun will testify before the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations on Tuesday after a series of incidents raised concerns about safety and quality, 

The committee’s chair, Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal said earlier this month after two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people, “Boeing made a promise to overhaul its safety practices and culture. That promise proved empty, and the American people deserve an explanation.”

Senate Commerce Committee chair Maria Cantwell said Thursday she could call Calhoun to appear at a future hearing. The top Republican on the panel, Senator Ted Cruz, said he was disappointed Calhoun was not appearing before Commerce, which has jurisdiction over aviation safety.

Calhoun has said he will leave by the end of the year as part of a broader management shakeup, as Boeing faces multiple government investigations and pressure from investors and airlines to find a new CEO.

During a hearing in April before Blumenthal’s committee, a Boeing engineer testified the company took dangerous manufacturing shortcuts with certain planes and sidelined him when he raised safety concerns, claims the company disputes.

Boeing faces an ongoing Justice Department investigation into the door plug blowout.

Boeing tells suppliers it moving a 737 output benchmark back

Boeing has told suppliers it is delaying a key production milestone for its 737 jet family by three months, two industry sources said, as it continues to struggle with a crisis that is hurting output.   

A new Boeing supplier schedule communicated to the industry calls for 737 output to reach 42 a month in September, compared with a previous target of reaching that output in June, the sources said. Boeing was not immediately available for comment.

Boeing’s jet production has slowed sharply in the face of increased scrutiny from regulators, airlines and lawmakers following a January incident when a door plug blew off an Alaska Airlines jetliner while in mid-air.

Boeing’s supplier master schedule lays out expectations for when suppliers should be at a given production rate. Analysts say it does not necessarily reflect actual production which has been lagging due to a mixture of regulatory scrutiny and supply constraints. 

However, Boeing’s decision to push back the target is an indication that it believes supply pressures are not easing. Rival Airbus, the worlds largest planemaker, is also bracing for inceeased near-term  disruption amid shortages of parts and labor, Reuters reported last month.

The new supplier schedule calls for output to reach 47 a month in March 2025, compared with January of that same year.  Output would reach 52 a month in September 2025, compared with June. 

Boeing shares fell 2.2 percent in Friday trading. 

The company last month said it would burn rather than generate cash in 2024 and deliveries will not increase in the second quarter as originally expected. 

Reporting by David Shepardson, Allison Lampert and Tim Hepher; Editing by Nick Zieminski and David Gregorio. Copyright 2024. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.