New York (AFP)

Fatal 737 MAX crashes represent the "horrific culmination" of a series of engineering flaws, Boeing mismanagement and lack of oversight by the aviation regulator (FAA) , a US Congressional Transport Committee concluded Wednesday.

In a 239-page final report on the Lion Air crashes in October 2018 and Ethiopan Airlines in March 2019, the result of 18 months of investigation, more than 20 hearings and the 600,000-page review of documents, the manufacturer is accused of "the worrying repetition of poor technical evaluations and disturbing errors of judgment on the part of management".

The FAA is vilified there for its "many deficiencies in terms of oversight and accountability."

Written by Democrats on the House of Representatives' Transport Committee, the report "contains troubling revelations about how Boeing - under pressure to compete with Airbus and make profits for Wall Street - escaped FAA scrutiny , withheld critical information from the pilots and ultimately put into service planes that killed 346 innocent people, ”its president, Peter DeFazio, commented in a statement.

The document brings "to Congress a roadmap on the steps we need to take to strengthen aviation safety and regulatory transparency, increase federal oversight and improve corporate accountability to ensure that the story of the Boeing 737 MAX does not end. never repeat, ”he added.

The manufacturer "seriously needs to change its approach to safety", concludes the report.

But "the commission's investigation failed to determine whether Boeing really wants to admit its mistakes and learn from them."

- Restore confidence -

The group claims to have for its part "worked hard to strengthen (its) safety culture and restore trust with (its) customers, regulators and the public".

The report highlights five themes, starting with the strong financial pressure put on Boeing and the 737 MAX program to move quickly, in order to better compete with the Airbus A320 Neo.

This pressure has pushed Boeing to cut expenses and maintain the production schedule at all costs.

The document also blames the assumptions made by Boeing about essential technologies of the aircraft, including the MCAS anti-stall software involved in the two accidents, as well as the reactions of the pilots even when most of them were missing. not aware of the existence of this software.

The "culture of concealment" which prevails in the manufacturer and has prevented it from sharing crucial information with the authorities, its customers and the pilots of the 737 MAX, is also singled out.

The report's authors also highlight how the regulator oversees Boeing: to the extent that company employees perform certain tasks on behalf of the FAA, this creates, in their view, "inherent conflicts of interest". .

Finally, they deplore Boeing's too important influence on the FAA, which, on several occasions, has pushed the officials of the authority to reject the conclusions of its own technicians at the request of the manufacturer.

The regulator said in a statement Wednesday that it has already started to transform and is ready to work with the commission to implement the recommended changes.

"These initiatives aim to advance aviation safety by improving our organization, processes and culture," said the FAA.

This parliamentary report comes as the 737 MAX recently approached a return to the skies with a series of certification flights in the United States and Canada.

Several representatives of world aviation authorities are currently meeting in London to discuss the training of future pilots of the aircraft, a critical element.

"Once the FAA and other regulators determine that the MAX can be safely returned to service, it will be one of the most thoroughly vetted aircraft in history and we have full confidence in its safety," said underlined Wednesday Boeing.

© 2020 AFP