Boeing 737 MAX report may boost effort to reform U.S. airplane certification

A new report into the Federal Aviation Administration's decision to certify the Boeing 737 MAX may help proponents seeking reforms to the long-standing practice of delegating some aircraft certification tasks to manufacturers. On Wednesday, the Transportation Department's inspector general released a 52-page report that said Boeing withheld key information about a crucial safety system known as MCAS, that is tied to two fatal crashes and raises questions about whether Boeing employees performing work for the FAA faced undue pressure. On June 16, Senate Commerce Committee chairman Roger Wicker and the top Democrat on the panel Maria Cantwell introduced legislation to strengthen FAA oversight of aircraft certification.