FAA chief plans to promise 'more boots on the ground' at aircraft factories

Top officials at the Federal Aviation Administration plan to tell a House panel on Tuesday that the agency will increase its presence on the ground to monitor aircraft production.

The official, Mike Whitaker, will appear before lawmakers a month after a door panel was blown off a Boeing 737 Max 9 plane in flight, raising new questions about Boeing's quality control practices, as well as the FAA's oversight of the planemaker .

“Going forward, we will have more agents on the ground closely monitoring and monitoring production and production activities,” Mr. Whitaker plans to say in his testimony before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's Aviation Subcommittee, according to excerpts provided by his office have been released.

“Boeing employees are encouraged to use our FAA hotline to report any safety concerns,” Mr. Whitaker said. “And we will consider the full extent of our enforcement authority to ensure that Boeing is held accountable for any non-compliance.”

The incident involving the door panel, known as a door plug, occurred on an Alaska Airlines flight shortly after it took off from Portland, Oregon, on January 5. The FAA quickly grounded similar Max 9 jets. At the end of January it was said that they could fly again after inspection.

The National Transportation Safety Board is expected to release its preliminary report on the episode Tuesday.

Over the past month, the FAA has taken a hard line against Boeing, blocking the company from expanding production of the 737 Max series until quality control issues are resolved. It's another crisis for the planemaker involving the Max, following two fatal crashes involving Max 8 jets in 2018 and 2019.

The door plug incident has also prompted scrutiny into the FAA's record of oversight of Boeing and its long-standing practice of allowing the aircraft manufacturer's employees to perform safety work on behalf of the government .