by Joanna Plucinska and Tim Hepher
COLOGNE (Reuters) – The acting executive director of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) said on Wednesday the agency could withdraw indirect approvals given to Boeing for aircraft production if it were necessary.
Asked whether EASA was prepared to stop recognizing Boeing’s U.S. production safety approvals that state the planemaker’s planes are safe, Luc Tytgat told Reuters: “Yes, if necessary.”
Boeing has been under pressure since an accident on January 5 in which a part of the fuselage of a 737 MAX 9 broke off in mid-flight.
The United States Civil Aviation Administration (FAA) said last week that the audit carried out at Boeing and its supplier Spirit AeroSystems on the production of the 737 MAX had identified several cases of alleged breaches of control requirements quality.
The FAA and EASA, which regulate the factories of their respective aircraft manufacturers, have entered into safety agreements providing, among other things, that safety approvals issued by one agency are recognized by the other.
However, if one agency loses confidence in its counterpart’s ability to carry out verifications, it can request consultations and, if these fail, suspend certifications after a 30-day break.
However, such measures remain rare.
Although the EASA has seen its influence on the design of Boeing planes increase after the accidents involving the 737 MAX, it has few means at its disposal, apart from the possibility of suspending certifications, to monitor the production of existing aircraft.
Luc Tytgat, however, indicated that he saw no immediate threat to the certification of Boeing’s production.
“We don’t see why (it) couldn’t be maintained for the moment. It’s more about the conditions of supervision and control that are already in place.”
Luc Tytgat specified that he had spoken with senior Boeing officials on Friday, and that the discussions had been reassuring.
“I have observed a change within management. They want to put more emphasis on quality controls, product quality, and I was really reassured by their desire to change (…) quality control of production,” he said.
(With the contribution of David Shepardson; Camille Raynaud)
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