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Boeing fails large portion of FAA audit as investigators probe New Zealand 787 incident
As an investigation gets underway to find out what went wrong on the LATAM Airlines flight from Sydney, Australia, to Auckland, New Zealand, that left 50 passengers injured on Monday, new details about another Boeing audit conducted by the Federal Aviation Administration reveal that the company failed large portions of that evaluation.
The audit specifically looked at the production of Boeing’s 737 Max, following Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California, in January, which was forced to make an emergency landing after a door plug suddenly blew out mid-air on a 737 Max 9 jet. Boeing failed 33 of the audit’s 89 sections, CBS News confirmed, with regulators finding 97 examples of the company’s alleged non-compliance with many of its own best practices.
The Alaska Airlines incident called into question the safety of the 737 Max 9 jet and Boeing’s production standards more broadly, especially since preliminary results of an investigation by the National Transportation and Safety Board into the Alaska flight found that four key bolts meant to hold the door plug in place were missing from the aircraft. The probe so far indicates that the bolts holding that panel in place were not reinstalled during the plane’s manufacturing process.
Both Alaska Airlines and United Airlines said later that they found loose hardware on 737 Max 9 aircrafts that were grounded in the wake of the door plug fiasco, and the FAA is conducting an ongoing investigation into Flight 1282 to determine exactly what happened, and whether Boeing “failed to ensure” that its aircrafts “were in a condition for safe operation in compliance with FAA regulations.”
LATAM Airlines Flight 800 was a different Boeing aircraft model than the one used during the Alaska flight — the 787, which is considerably larger than the 737 Max 9. Compared with 174 passengers and six crew members on board the Alaska flight in January, the LATAM flight was carrying around 260 passengers and nine crew members when it abruptly dropped on its route to Auckland. The jolt sent some passengers hurtling into the aircraft’s ceiling and left some bloodied. Around 50 passengers were hurt, and 13 were taken to hospitals for treatment after the plane landed.
LATAM said in a statement that the flight experienced technical issues that “caused a strong movement” of the aircraft.
“LATAM regrets the inconvenience and injury this situation may have caused its passengers, and reiterates its commitment to safety as a priority within the framework of its operational standards,” the airline said.
New Zealand’s Transport Accident Investigation Commission announced on Tuesday that it would seize the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder from the aircraft in hopes of learning more about what happened, but early reports suggest that the 787 plane’s flight control system may have temporarily malfunctioned.
“The best way to describe it is, it dropped out of the air instantly,” said Brian Jokat, a passenger on the LATAM flight. “Then it started to tail down, like, nose down.”
Given the spate of recent aircraft incidents in the United States and worldwide, the union representing American Airlines pilots is now calling on the FAA to increase oversight of airlines and maintenance facilities. The U.S. Department of Justice has also launched a criminal investigation into Boeing, stemming from the Alaska Airlines flight, CBS News has learned.
Boeing declined to comment on the Justice Department probe, but indicated that it is cooperating with all ongoing investigations and making immediate changes to improve its quality control and safety.
The audit was first reported by the New York Times.
FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker said at a news briefing that the agency has “dramatically increased” oversight regarding “the actual production” of the Boeing 737 Max 9 jets and, for that reason, certifies the planes as safe now.
President Biden approved the mobilization of another 500 active-duty troops to North Carolina to assist in the recovery efforts after the deadly and devastating Hurricane Helene.
“With a total of 1,500 troops now supplementing a robust on-the-ground effort – including more than 6,100 National Guardsmen and more than 7,000 Federal personnel – the Biden-Harris Administration is mobilizing all relevant resources to support families as they begin their road to rebuilding,” the White House said in a statement Sunday.
Mr. Biden previously announced that the federal government would cover “100%” of costs for debris removal and emergency protective measures in North Carolina for six months. The Biden administration has also released more than $137 million in federal funds – including $100 million in transportation funds for North Carolina to begin rebuilding damaged roads and bridges.
Mike Stewart / AP
More than 800 people unable to return home are staying in lodging provided through FEMA, and 22 shelters are still housing nearly 1,000 people as mobile feeding operations continue to help survivors.
“My Administration is sparing no resource to support families as they begin their road to rebuilding,” Biden said. “We will continue working hand-in-hand with local and state leaders – regardless of political party and no matter how long it takes.”
Earlier Sunday, North Carolina Sen. Thom Tills called for more resources to bolster the relief effort and likened the damage to Hurricane Katrina’s mark on Louisiana in 2005.
“The scope of this storm is more like Katrina,” he told CBS News’ Margaret Brennan on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan”. “It may look like a flood to the outside observer, but again, this is a landmass roughly the size of the state of Massachusetts, with damage distributed throughout. We have to get maximum resources on the ground immediately to finish rescue operations.”
Mr. Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have all traveled to some of the impacted regions.
Hurricane Helene caused catastrophic damage from Florida into the Appalachian mountains and killed more than 225 people across multiple states. That number includes 114 killed in North Carolina alone.
The White House said Mr. Biden has also been briefed on Hurricane Milton, which is forecast to make landfall in Florida’s Tampa Bay area as a major storm on Wednesday.
U.S. disaster relief chief blasts false claims about Helene response
Deanne Criswell, who leads the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said on Sunday that the recent false claims and conspiracy theories about the federal response to the storm are “demoralizing” aid workers.
“It’s frankly ridiculous, and just plain false. This kind of rhetoric is not helpful to people,” she said. “It’s really a shame that we’re putting politics ahead of helping people, and that’s what we’re here to do. We have had the complete support of the state,” she said, referring to North Carolina.
Joe Raedle/ Getty Images
Republicans, led by Trump, have helped foster a frenzy of misinformation over the past week among the communities most devastated by Helene, promoting a number of false claims, including that Washington is intentionally withholding aid to people in Republican areas.
Trump accused FEMA of spending all its money to help immigrants who are in the United States illegally, while other critics assert that the government spends too much on Israel, Ukraine and other foreign countries.
Tillis, a Republican, on Sunday rejected that claim, telling “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that resources being used on immigration is “not yet … affecting the flow of resources to western North Carolina.”
Tillis said the stream of misinformation about relief efforts in North Carolina is a “distraction.”
“I believe that we have to stay focused on rescue operations, recovery operations, clearing operations, and we don’t need any of these distractions on the ground,” Tillis said. “It’s at the expense of hard-working first responders and people that are just trying to recover their lives.”
Mr. Biden said in a statement Sunday that his administration “will continue working hand-in-hand with local and state leaders –- regardless of political party and no matter how long it takes.”
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Rep. Mike Turner says all “candidates need to deescalate” after Trump assassination attempts
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Biden sends more troops to North Carolina for continued Hurricane Helene response
Scene along Twin Cities Marathon: Bananas, Alan Page, pickle juice
Rep. Mike Turner says all “candidates need to deescalate” after Trump assassination attempts
Biden sends more troops to North Carolina for continued Hurricane Helene response
Scene along Twin Cities Marathon: Bananas, Alan Page, pickle juice