FAA must ramp up staffing to oversee airplane certification: Aviation panel

The US Federal Aviation Administration had insufficient personnel to oversee the certification of new Boeing airplanes and should make significant reforms in how it approves new aircraft, an international aviation panel said Friday.

The panel also faulted assumptions made by the airplane manufacturer in designing the 737 MAX and for not disclosing more information to the FAA.

Reuters reported on a draft copy of the Joint Authorities Technical Review (JATR) findings and recommendations earlier on Friday that called for sweeping changes in how the FAA evaluates and certifies new airplanes.

Representative Peter DeFazio, a Democrat who chairs the House Transportation Committee, said Friday, the report “raises new and disturbing questions about the separation between regulator and manufacturer.”