Anonymous ID: b14abf May 5, 2019, 1:37 p.m. No.6422762   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>2809 >>2837 >>3169 >>3300

Engineers say Boeing pushed to limit safety testing in race to certify planes, including 737 MAX

 

In 2016, as Boeing raced to get the 737 MAX certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), a senior company engineer whose job was to act on behalf of the FAA balked at Boeing management demands for less stringent testing of the fire-suppression system around the jet’s new LEAP engines.

 

That June he convened a meeting of all the certification engineers in his unit, who collectively agreed with his assessment. Management initially rejected their position, and only after another senior engineer from outside the MAX program intervened did managers finally agree to beef up the testing to a level the engineer could accept, according to two people familiar with the matter.

 

But his insistence on a higher level of safety scrutiny cost Boeing time and money.

Less than a month after his peers had backed him, Boeing abruptly removed him from the program even before conducting the testing he’d advocated.

 

The episode underscores what The Seattle Times found after a review of documents and interviews with more than a dozen current and former Boeing engineers who have been involved in airplane certification in recent years, including on the 737 MAX: Many engineers, employed by Boeing while officially designated to be the FAA’s eyes and ears, faced heavy pressure from Boeing managers to limit safety analysis and testing so the company could meet its schedule and keep down costs.

 

That pressure increased when the FAA stopped dealing directly with those designated employees — called “Authorized Representatives” or ARs — and let Boeing managers determine what was presented to the regulatory agency.

“The ARs have nobody supporting them. Nobody has their backs,” said one former Authorized Representative who worked on the 737 MAX and who provided details of the engineer’s removal from the program. “The system is absolutely broken.”

FAA-designated oversight engineers are supposed to enjoy protection from management pressure. Removing one who proves a stickler for safety regulations will inevitably produce a chilling effect on others who see the consequences of being too rigid about safety concerns, said John Goglia, former member of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

“It negates the whole system,” said Goglia. “The FAA should have come down on that really hard.”

 

https://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/engineers-say-boeing-pushed-to-limit-safety-testing-in-race-to-certify-planes-including-737-max/

Anonymous ID: b14abf May 5, 2019, 2:27 p.m. No.6423151   🗄️.is 🔗kun

Donations to Sanders cut in half after Biden entry, begs donors to ‘dig a little deeper’

 

Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign has seen a huge drop in donations since former Vice President Joe Biden entered the race, and he’s begging donors to “dig a little deeper.”

In a long email promising to undo President Trump’s actions if elected, Sanders' campaign manager Faiz Shakir revealed that the average donation to the Vermont senator’s operation has been cut in half.

“I’m about to ask you to make a contribution, and I hope that it is clear why. But first, I want to be up front with you that our average contribution — which used to be $27 — has been almost half that in the last couple weeks. It’s OK for now, but we would really like to see if you can dig a little deeper if you’re able to,” he wrote.

In the campaign so far, just like in 2016, the Sanders campaign has been an online fundraising juggernaut. He raised $18 million in the first quarter of 2016, topping every other Democrat in the race at that time. Biden joined the race April 25.

The email seeks a donation of $3, though it also includes amounts of $27-$1,000 on the donor page.

 

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/washington-secrets/donations-to-sanders-cut-in-half-after-biden-entry-begs-donors-to-dig-a-little-deeper