Final report: Boeing, FAA made 'serious' flaws, 'missteps' with 737 Max

Congressional investigators said in a final report Wednesday that Boeing and U.S. aviation regulators failed in their duty to ensure travelers' safety when they designed and certified the 737 Max airliner, which crashed twice within months and has been grounded worldwide for nearly two years. The 238-page report by the House transportation committee concludes that Boeing prioritized profits over safety in rushing to complete the design of the plane and the Federal Aviation Administration, the industry's chief civil regulator, was guilty of "grossly insufficient oversight" in giving final approval for the model. The failures "played instrumental and causative roles" in two deadly crashes of the 737 Max in Ethiopia and Indonesia in late 2018 and early 2019, which killed 346 passengers and crew and led regulators worldwide to revoke the model's certificate of airworthiness. The panel report cited what it called "serious flaws" and "missteps in the design, development and certification" of the airliner, which entered service in 2017. "The Max crashes were not the result of a singular failure, technical mistake or mismanaged event," the report states. "They were the horrific culmination of a series of faulty technical assumptions by Boeing's engineers, a lack of transparency on the part of Boeing's management and grossly insufficient oversight by the FAA the pernicious result of regulatory capture on the part of the FAA with respect to its responsibilities to perform robust oversight of Boeing and to ensure the safety of the flying public." Other investigations have said the plane's automated flight control system, the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, was a chief cause of both crashes. On both occasions, the system was adversely activated after receiving inaccurate sensor data and put the planes into a nose-down position that the pilots weren't able to recover from.

Wednesday's report, the result of an 18-month investigation led by committee Chairman Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., and Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., said some Boeing engineers raised concerns about the MCAS design but they were overruled by management as the company raced to introduce the 737 Max to compete with the new A320 Neo by French rival Airbus. The report said the FAA's judgment in approving the model was compromised by "inherent conflicts of interest," including allowing workers at Boeing to act as de facto representatives of the regulatory agency in determining whether the systems and designs complied with federal rules. "Our report lays out disturbing revelations about how Boeing under pressure to compete with Airbus and deliver profits for Wall Street escaped scrutiny from the FAA, withheld critical information from pilots and ultimately put planes into service that killed 346 innocent people," DeFazio wrote. "What's particularly infuriating is how Boeing and FAA both gambled with public safety in the critical time period between the two crashes." "We have learned many hard lessons as a company from the accidents … and from the mistakes we have made," Boeing said in a statement Wednesday, in a response to the report. "We have made fundamental changes to our company as a result and continue to look for ways to improve. Change is always hard and requires daily commitment, but we as a company are dedicated to doing the work. "We have been hard at work strengthening our safety culture and rebuilding trust with our customers, regulators and the flying public."

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2020/09/16/Final-report-Boeing-FAA-made-serious-flaws-missteps-with-737-Max/2391600251165/

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Sauce for Committee Report:

https://transportation.house.gov/imo/media/doc/2020.09.15%20FINAL%20737%20MAX%20Report%20for%20Public%20Release.pdf

Five COVID-19 vaccines in advanced trials by October. Doses to be shipped within 24 hours of FDA approval

President Trump’s signature vaccine production effort, Operation Warp Speed, promised that a total of five government-funded vaccines will be in phase 3 clinical trials in the next 30 days, with the last sponsored effort slated to enter by the end of the year. Uncertainty remains high regarding vaccine efficacy, while Department of Defense officials tried to assure reporters briefed Wednesday morning that logistics will be in place for the manufacturing and distribution of hundreds of millions of doses. “We're dealing in a world of great uncertainty,” said Paul Mango, deputy chief of staff for policy at the Department of Health and Human Services. “We don't know the timing of when we'll have a vaccine.” Mango avoided the exuberant language of recent present briefings where he underscored that efforts were on schedule or ahead of schedule. One vaccine effort, AstraZeneca, was forced to suspend trials after a volunteer illness.

He did, however, highlight that all six of the vaccine efforts would be in the final stage of trials by the end of the year, and once approved, they will be shipped within 24 hours. "Our goal at Operation Warp Speed is that 24 hours after [FDA emergency use authorization] issued that we have vaccine moving to administration sites," he said. HHS has been working on a joint vaccine and therapeutics effort with the Department of Defense since May 15 with a stated goal of delivering a safe and efficient vaccine by Jan. 1, 2021. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Robert Redfield said the goal of 300 million vaccines is still central to the effort. “The CDC’s goal, and that of the U.S. government, is to have enough COVID-19 vaccine for all people in the United States who wish to be vaccinated,” he said.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/five-covid-19-vaccines-in-advanced-trials-by-october-doses-to-be-shipped-within-24-hours-of-fda-approval

Lancaster protester held on $1 million bail is a sorority girl

One of the accused rioters locked up on $1 million bail following violent protests in Lancaster, Pa., is a Kappa Delta sorority sister and “ally” of a black rights organization at the pricey private college she attends. Kathryn Patterson was among 13 people arrested early Monday on a slew of felony and misdemeanor charges including arson, riot, vandalism and criminal conspiracy. “My left fist, to symbolize black power,” the young activist commented on a photo she posted on Facebook on Aug. 1, showing her marching in all black with the caption, “BLM, all day everyday.” Nine of them, including 20-year-old Patterson, are still being held on $1 million bail, according to court records. Patterson joins a growing cast of privileged 20-somethings — including wealthy Upper East Sider Clara Kraebber — who have been busted when protests turned violent.

Originally from the tiny town of Mercersburg, about two hours west of Lancaster, Patterson is an undergraduate at Franklin and Marshall College in the city, which charges $60,872 in annual tuition. Patterson was identified as an “ally” of the college’s Black Student Union, according to a GoFundMe page set up for her legal fees. Patterson’s Facebook page includes photos of her activism, including one from Aug. 1 with her fist raised in the air, captioned “BLM, all day every day.” Friends claim Patterson was acting as a “medic” during the violent protests that erupted overnight Sunday following the police shooting of Ricardo Munoz, who charged at cops with a knife. “Kat was providing medical attention to injured demonstrators and has now been wrongfully accused of crimes she could not possibly commit,” claimed the GoFundMe page, which has raised more than $41,000 as of Wednesday morning.

Her father, Chip Patterson said he spoke to his daughter Tuesday night. He called her bail amount “obscene.” “I don’t know what happened Sunday night, we didn’t talk about that,” he said. “I don’t know what she did or didn’t do. I would be shocked if she did something violent.” An online fundraiser has also been set up for Taylor Enterline, who was also collared while allegedly “working as a medic, running around helping those that were hurt and or tear gassed,” the page said. “She was then charged with guns by police along with another person from her activist group,” the GoFundMe said. “She is being held under false charges that all witnesses protest against, She was denied her family lawyer and charged with a $1,000,000 bail that is a direct violation to her 8th amendment rights.” Enterline’s mother declined to comment on her daughter’s arrest. “I’m not comfortable at this time,” she said. Munoz was shot and killed by a Lancaster police officer after charging at the cop with a knife in hand. The officer had been responding to a 911 call reporting Munoz’s “aggressive” behavior and that the 27-year-old mentally ill man was trying to break into his mother’s home in downtown Lancaster. He had been awaiting trial on charges he slashed four people last year, including a teenage boy who was stabbed in the face.

https://nypost.com/2020/09/16/lancaster-protester-held-on-1-million-bail-is-a-sorority-girl/

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2602490433333254&set=a.1378075735774736&type=3&theater