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Don,
Was wondering if you could shed some industry light on these quotes??
The fact that Boeing is quietly seeking Federal Aviation Administration approval to combine currently authorized engineering and manufacturing compliance functions gives me great pause.
The already existing delegated compliance is dubious enough...but expanding that for a program with so many problems is simply insane. The pressure on Boeing employees to certify compliance will just be overwhelming in these circumstances. Careers and perhaps the very existence of the Boeing company hang in the balance of getting this plane out. The effort of the company to get exempted from normal FAA oversight on the 787 simply cannot be trusted.
Short version:
Because of staffing shortages at the FAA (and deregulation philosophy) vertain FAA certification functions required by law in aircraft manufacture were devolved to the manufacturer. A special class of employee at the manufacturer (generally of unquestioned technical ability and personal integrity) were charged with this function. Although they worked for the manufacturer, they in-essence carried out the function of the government. If anyone at the manufacturer attempted to pressure them to certify anything that they didn't believe qualified, these individuals could simply call their counterparts at the FAA for backup.
Fast forward through numerous variations of this over the years to the present day.
Just about the time that various obscure news outlets began to report that the 787 was going to experience more delays due to FAA certification problems, Boeing quietly applied for a vastly expanded "self-certification" program. In this case, the route of appeal (in an employee felt that he/sje was being pressured to qrongly certify something) IS NOT to the FAA, but instead up their chain of command at Boeing.
Fox guarding the henhouse.
Self-certification is dubious but IMO it could be acceptable on some mature product line. However, on the 787, there are so many documented problems, and so many problems as yet to be disclosed, that it's absolutely insane to allow Boeing to "self-certify" that everything is in compliance. The pressure on employees will be stunning and the route of appeal will be right up through the same people pressuring the employees to certify so that Boeing can avoid another delay.
Was wondering if you could shed some industry light on these quotes??
The fact that Boeing is quietly seeking Federal Aviation Administration approval to combine currently authorized engineering and manufacturing compliance functions gives me great pause.
The already existing delegated compliance is dubious enough...but expanding that for a program with so many problems is simply insane. The pressure on Boeing employees to certify compliance will just be overwhelming in these circumstances. Careers and perhaps the very existence of the Boeing company hang in the balance of getting this plane out. The effort of the company to get exempted from normal FAA oversight on the 787 simply cannot be trusted.
Short version:
Because of staffing shortages at the FAA (and deregulation philosophy) vertain FAA certification functions required by law in aircraft manufacture were devolved to the manufacturer. A special class of employee at the manufacturer (generally of unquestioned technical ability and personal integrity) were charged with this function. Although they worked for the manufacturer, they in-essence carried out the function of the government. If anyone at the manufacturer attempted to pressure them to certify anything that they didn't believe qualified, these individuals could simply call their counterparts at the FAA for backup.
Fast forward through numerous variations of this over the years to the present day.
Just about the time that various obscure news outlets began to report that the 787 was going to experience more delays due to FAA certification problems, Boeing quietly applied for a vastly expanded "self-certification" program. In this case, the route of appeal (in an employee felt that he/sje was being pressured to qrongly certify something) IS NOT to the FAA, but instead up their chain of command at Boeing.
Fox guarding the henhouse.
Self-certification is dubious but IMO it could be acceptable on some mature product line. However, on the 787, there are so many documented problems, and so many problems as yet to be disclosed, that it's absolutely insane to allow Boeing to "self-certify" that everything is in compliance. The pressure on employees will be stunning and the route of appeal will be right up through the same people pressuring the employees to certify so that Boeing can avoid another delay.
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