Documents turned over to authorities suggest that the company had misled regulators
by Alan Levin and Ryan Beene
A high-ranking Boeing Co. pilot working on the 737 Max expressed misgivings during its certification three years ago about a feature since implicated in two fatal crashes, according to communications the planemaker recently turned over to the government.
The Federal Aviation Administration said Boeing alerted the Transportation Department late yesterday of instant messages between two employees of the planemaker, the FAA said Friday. The U.S. regulator said Boeing Co. had the documents for months.
“The FAA finds the substance of the document concerning,” the agency said in a statement. “The FAA is also disappointing that Boeing did not bring this document to our attention immediately upon its discovering.”
The agency said it was turning over the documents to Congressional investigators.
Boeing shares fell after Reuters reported on the FAA’s comments earlier Friday. The stock dropped as much as 4.5% to $352.59 in New York, its biggest intraday decline since May. The S&P 500 Index also fell to lows of the day about the same time on news that Vice President Mike Pence will give a speech on U.S.-China policy next week.
One of the employees, Boeing’s primary contact with the FAA on the jet’s certification, said in the messages that the feature known as Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System was potentially difficult for pilots to handle, according to a person familiar with the communications, who asked not to be identified discussing the investigation.
At the time, the company had assured regulators that the system’s handling was benign.
“Over the past several months, Boeing has been voluntarily cooperating with the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee’s investigation into the 737 MAX,” company spokesman Gordon Johndroe said in an email.
“As part of that cooperation, today we brought to the Committee’s attention a document containing statements by a former Boeing employee. We will continue to cooperate with the Committee as it continues its investigation. And we will continue to follow the direction of the FAA and other global regulators, as we work to safely return the 737 MAX to service.”
The statement didn’t address FAA’s concerns that it had the messages in its files months ago.
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