Washington (AFP)

The 737 MAX crisis never stops. Boeing has forwarded, on its own initiative, to the US Congressional Transportation Committee new troubling documents that appear to question the group's response to the safety concerns surrounding the aircraft.

The American manufacturer sent these documents late Monday evening, that is to say after the announcement of the resignation, with immediate effect, of its executive director, Dennis Muilenburg, told AFP an assistant of this commission without saying if the two were linked.

The Transport Commission is currently investigating the 737 MAX, which has been grounded since March following two deadly accidents that killed 346 people.

However, the assistant did not specify whether these documents related the situation before or after the accidents of Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines, which occurred in October 2018 and March 2019. He also refused to reveal the exact content .

The American air regulator (FAA) for its part confirmed to AFP that it also received these documents.

- Chipped confidence -

"Staff are continuing to review these files but, like other files previously released by Boeing, they appear to show a very disturbing picture," said congressional assistant, likely hinting at the revelation a few years ago. months of internal messages from a former Boeing test pilot, Mark Forkner, whose emails had raised headlines about the 737 Max flight simulator in 2016.

According to the commission, the new documents evoke both the concern expressed by Boeing employees "over the company's commitment to safety" and "the efforts of certain employees to ensure that production projects (...) are not upset by regulators or the like. "

The multiple investigations carried out both by the aviation authorities in Indonesia, where the Lion Air plane crashed, and by the Ethiopian investigators after the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines aircraft, have implicated the device's MCAS anti-stall software.

They also pointed to multiple manufacturer shortcomings, ranging from a lack of redundancy in certain systems to a lack of information and pilot training.

In the United States, investigations in parliamentary committees have also revealed a very close relationship between the FAA and the manufacturer, the federal authorities having left entire sections of the 737 MAX certification process in the hands of Boeing.

- Resignation -

"Like previous documents mentioned by the commission, the tone and content of some of these communications do not reflect the business we have to be," said Boeing.

"We have made significant changes as a company in the past nine months to strengthen our security systems, organization and culture," added the group.

The corrections made by the aircraft manufacturer have not yet been validated by the aviation safety authorities.

And, failing to get its flagship plane back into service, Boeing had to resign itself last week to announce the end of production of its plane from January for an indefinite period.

The company announced on Monday the immediate resignation of 55-year-old Dennis Muilenburg, who was widely criticized for handling the 737 MAX crisis.

"The board has decided that a change of management is necessary to restore trust in the company as it strives to re-establish ties with regulators, customers and all other stakeholders", had justified the constructor.

"The ouster of Dennis Muilenburg was long overdue," said Peter DeFazio, chairman of the Congress Transport Committee, saying that "under his leadership, a company long admired has made a number of decisions. devastating suggesting that profit takes precedence over security. "

He will be replaced by the current Chairman of the Board of Directors David Calhoun, 62, from January 13.

Calhoun, the current managing director of the investment company Blackstone, will have the daunting task of restoring confidence in Boeing.

© 2019 AFP