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Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Ranking Member Sam Graves (R-MO) and Aviation Subcommittee Ranking Member Garret Graves (R-LA) issued the following joint statement on a newly released Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General (OIG) report providing a comprehensive, detailed timeline related to the certification and post-Lion Air accident activities of the Boeing 737 MAX 8:

“This is just the first step in the OIG’s process, but this report shows the FAA’s certification process at the time was followed and decisions made were based upon certain assumptions that we now know must be reevaluated by the FAA and Boeing,” said the two ranking members.  “In particular, we are very interested in the OIG’s continuing review of FAA’s processes for determining the certification basis, assessing pilot training needs, and conducting risk analyses.  It is vitally important that we take into consideration all the reviews being conducted surrounding these tragic accidents, and we look forward to the OIG’s recommendations to help inform Congressional action in the coming months.”

Background Information:
Today’s OIG report outlines Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Boeing activities resulting in the certification of the 737 MAX 8, beginning in January 2012.  It also includes a timeline of events following the October 29, 2018, crash of Lion Air Flight 610 up until the crash of Ethiopian Air Flight 302 on March 10, 2019.  Finally, since during the same time period Boeing, FAA, and OIG were identifying issues that – although not specific to the 737 MAX 8 – may have impacted the original certification of the aircraft, the report sets forth a timeline of concurrent related oversight actions and events related to FAA’s Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) program.  The report does not include any recommendations, but the OIG intends to report further on FAA’s oversight of the certification process and other related matters, as well as make recommendations as applicable, in future reports.