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WASHINGTON � The U.S. Department of Transportation�s
Federal Aviation Administration today announced a comprehensive settlement
agreement with Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA) that resolves multiple pending
and potential enforcement cases. Under the agreement, BCA pledged to implement and improve
several certification processes to further enhance the airworthiness and
continued compliance of all BCA products. �It is imperative that everyone complies with our aviation
system�s high safety standards,� said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony
Foxx. �This agreement is an important step toward ensuring that Boeing
fully meets all applicable compliance standards going forward.� �Compliance requires all certificate holders to develop
and implement internal controls that ensure they�re operating according to the
highest standards,� said FAA Administrator Michael Huerta. �Boeing has agreed
to implement improvements in its design, planning, production and maintenance
planning processes, and has already implemented several of these improvements.� BCA�s obligations commit the company to meeting specific
performance targets. They are designed to enhance BCA�s early discovery and
self-disclosure of potential regulatory compliance problems, as well as the
timely development and implementation of effective corrective actions. The company also must make an immediate payment to the
United States Treasury in the amount of $12 million and faces stiff penalties
for failing to follow through on its commitments. BCA�s obligations include: Improved Management Oversight and Accountability - Implement the Safety Management Systems (SMS)
plan BCA has developed to meet internationally accepted standards, throughout
the company�s activities.
- Use the FAA�s safety analysis modeling, in
addition to BCA�s proprietary risk modeling, to assess all identified
compliance issues.
- Comply with a new Regulatory Compliance Plan,
which requires BCA to assign each compliance matter to a manager-level employee
for resolution and accountability.
- Require review of the regulatory compliance
performance of BCA managers.
Internal Auditing - To improve its internal audit processes, audit
teams will be required to report directly to BCA�s Vice President of Quality,
and conduct audits across all processes (Engineering, Supplier Management,
Production, Modification, Repair and Customer Support) at all sites.
- Assess the effectiveness of its internal
auditing systems.
- Appoint audit team members with appropriate
technical expertise to assess the extent of regulatory compliance.
- Conduct an evaluation of regulatory compliance
procedures among different facilities and programs.
- Implement risk-based criteria for selecting the
subjects of audits.
Enhanced Supplier Management - To determine whether incomplete work is being
accepted, conduct an initial set of audits of its suppliers, analyze the
results and consult with the FAA on audit findings.
- Based upon risk analysis, conduct a second, more
extensive set of audits, again reporting the results to the FAA and providing
the FAA with a summary of any corrective actions.
Quality and Timeliness Regulatory Submissions - Meet progressively
more stringent performance metrics in the quality and timeliness of its written
submissions to the FAA.
Specification Simplification - Annually for the next five years, review and
simplify at least 15 process specifications used in the design, build, delivery
and support of BCA products.
First-Article Verification - Implement improvements to processes to ensure
that assembly installations that have been affected by process or design
changes continue to conform to type design.
Stampings and Other Verification Records Accuracy - Conduct mandatory training of all manufacturing
and quality employees who exercise stamping approval authority, and conduct recurrent
training at least every 24 months.
- Conduct mandatory training of all engineering
employees on their regulatory compliance obligations.
- During each year of the agreement, conduct at
least three internal audits of each product line and at least one audit of each
BCA fabrication site.
- Prevent any repeat findings of improper stamping.
Corrective Action Development, Implementation and
Sustainment - Apply the �Boeing Problem-Solving Model� to a
wide variety of analyses that BCA submits to the FAA.
- For future violations that the FAA identifies,
conduct a second, follow-up audit within 12 months of the original incident to
ensure that corrective actions were effective at the time and continue to be
effective.
BCA�s Reporting Obligations - Report to the FAA at least annually about the
effectiveness of BCA�s regulatory compliance activities, including a final and
comprehensive report after the fifth year of the agreement.
- Report to the FAA each quarter the results of
any internal audits pertaining to safety management, regulatory compliance,
corrective action implementation and sustainment, process compliance and
conforming products.
BCA will face up to $24 million in additional penalties
over the next five years if it fails to implement its obligations under the
agreement. The performance period for BCA�s commitments begins Jan.
1, 2016 and will continue for five years unless the FAA and BCA agree to an
extension. The agreement settles two initiated cases and 11 other
matters that were opened during the last several years. The first initiated case involved BCA�s tardiness in
developing information for the installation of fuel tank flammability
reduction equipment on Boeing 747 and 757 aircraft. The second initiated
case involved the company�s insufficient corrective action after discovering
that a supplier had been providing incorrectly
shaped fasteners. The FAA did not allege that these issues created unsafe
conditions. The uninitiated matters involved allegations of delays in
submitting required safety information, production quality control problems,
and failures to implement corrective actions for those production problems.
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