The results of the Federal Aviation Administration’s investigation into the aircraft manufacturer Boeing were released on Wednesday. In it, the FAA alleged that Boeing factory workers were pressured to produce their work quickly, at the cost of quality.
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The report was obtained by CNN and comes from a six-week-long FAA special audit that also found factory workers did not receive enough training to properly perform their jobs.
The audit comes as Boeing appears to be hunkering down for a long strike with more than 33,000 union workers who walked off the job this month after contract negotiations failed.
The report comes ahead of Wednesday’s Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations hearing, which will feature testimony by FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker, a memo shared.
Investigations into Boeing were launched after the door plug of a 737 Max operated by Alaska Airlines flew off the plane shortly after taking off.
Video of the incident went viral online and sparked safety concerns that inevitably led to several investigations and congressional appearances from the company’s top brass.
As for the report, it said that “findings reveal the extent of troubling production problems, including Boeing’s struggle to adequately train and equip manufacturing personnel, thoroughly document and control nonconforming parts, and conduct adequate quality inspections,” CNN reported.
Whitaker said during testimony in June that the FAA was “too-hands-off” in its handling of Boeing, and the report highlights its own contributions to Boeing’s failures.
“These findings demonstrate an ongoing and persistent struggle by the FAA to ensure that Boeing is maintaining the highest safety standards across its manufacturing facilities,” the report said. “The newly released information raises questions about the effectiveness of the FAA’s oversight of the company.”
Several safety issues and shortcuts that were said to be taken often by Boeing employees were also documented in the report.
The report shared that one of the most egregious examples of this was a Boeing mechanic who used an improvised measuring tool to check gaps between components, forgoing a precise tool that would give accurate results.
“This tool is mechanic-made, unauthorized, uncalibrated, unmarked, not inventoried or stored,” the report said. “The mechanic has admitted to using this tool for at least three years. When asked how other door mechanics take this measurement, he stated they all do the same.”
Whitaker told House members that while Boeing is making an effort to resolve its issues, the path forward is not short.
“I think the safety culture change is going to be a long-term project,” Whitaker said. “I think it’s going to take years of delivering that safety message and the employees actually seeing that safety is more important than production before that culture to change.”
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