by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 1:55 PM ET, Fri August 2, 2024
A new measure has been introduced in the Senate to strengthen the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) safety oversight processes and procedures.
The FAA SMS Compliance Review Act of 2024, introduced yesterday by U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), chair of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, and Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), chair of the Aviation Safety Subcommittee, is designed to ensure that the FAA has a “comprehensive, robust and effective” Safety Management System (SMS).
The proposed measure also requires that the FAA implement “processes to perform root cause analyses of prior oversight lapses” and end its historic practice of giving aviation manufacturers nearly two months’ notice before an audit is conducted by government regulators.
“FAA must have a mandatory safety management system that makes the U.S. the gold standard,” Cantwell said in a statement. “An expert panel can help ensure that the FAA sets up a SMS that is compliant, robust and effective to keep our aviation system safe.”
On July 27, Cantwell sent a letter to FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker requesting that the FAA conduct a root cause analysis to identify any deficiencies in its own oversight of aviation manufacturers.
The letter followed Cantwell’s most recent committee hearing on aviation safety, where Whitaker said the agency was “too hands off” on its oversight of Boeing.
Cantwell had also raised concerns about the FAA’s safety culture back in April during a committee hearing reviewing Boeing’s safety culture.
“What SMS should the FAA implement in their own house to make sure that they are improving the safety culture and standing up on these important safety measures?” Cantrell asked during the April hearing.
The newly proposed FAA SMS Compliance Review Act includes a variety of directives for the FAA. They include:
- Convening an independent review panel that will make recommendations to help the FAA implement a robust, comprehensive Safety Management System across all lines of business at the agency, which includes Aviation Safety, Air Traffic Organization, Airports, Security & Hazardous Materials Safety and the Office of Commercial Space Transportation.
- Developing and implementing effective processes for performing root cause analyses to identify opportunities for improvement in the FAA’s execution of its regulatory oversight responsibilities.
- Revising its procedures to shorten the time that manufacturers have to prepare for audits from 50 days to one week.
Since the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 incident in January, during which a door plug blew off of a Boeing-manufactured plane mid-flight, Cantwell has held a series of aviation safety hearings.
Separately, back in June, the FAA said it would be stepping up its inspection of Boeing
after acknowledging it was too hands-off in its oversight of the
aircraft manufacturer in the lead-up to the Alaska Airlines incident.
"Let me also acknowledge the FAA should have had much better visibility
into what was happening at Boeing," Whitaker said
at a Senate Commerce Committee in mid-June.
The agency's initial measures have included permanently boosting the use of in-person inspectors and maintaining an increased on-site presence at Boeing and its
supplier Spirit AeroSystems "for the foreseeable future."
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