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US regulators complain of 'undue pressure' from Boeing
Federal Aviation Authority engineers say they faced "verbal abuse" after raising technical issues about the Boeing 787. (www.aljazeera.com) المزيد...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
Boeing is the one under pressure... financial, that is. That tail may be wagging the dog. Intimidation of FAA doesn't make airplanes safer.
Heh. It isn't exactly news that Boeing effed up badly (and repeatedly) during the gestation of the 787 program. Even employees will admit to that. (And bitch about the KA-46 eating their bonuses.)
The article title, and hence the squawk title, are misleading here. These aren't "US regulators" but rather Boeing engineers authorized by the FAA to review and approve the technical data on the FAA's behalf. (Steve Whelan provided a good summary of the designee process elsewhere in these comments.)
Also, the article's credibility was further shot in the subtitle when they referred to the "Federal Aviation Authority", of which there is no such agency. It's the "Federal Aviation Administration", and a quick check on "FAA.gov" would clear that up.
High level journalism I'm not seeing.
Also, the article's credibility was further shot in the subtitle when they referred to the "Federal Aviation Authority", of which there is no such agency. It's the "Federal Aviation Administration", and a quick check on "FAA.gov" would clear that up.
High level journalism I'm not seeing.
Later they said, "Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) authority" so maybe a dab of credibility restored?
The report doesn't surprise me that much. I've seen up close the same sort of behavior occur outside of the aviation world. Any time management schedules conflict with technical review, there's bound to be some trouble, and the scope of the trouble depends on how much respect the senior managers have for the technical process and the political savvy of the engineers upholding the process. I don't have inside contacts at Boeing, and sometimes these things work out fine in the end, but I've certainly seen the same sort of conflicts go quite badly at previous jobs.
Most of the engineers I've dealt with at Boeing are great at what they do, but their are a few prima donna's among them.