The US Federal Aviation Administration said on Monday it had ordered 2,600 Boeing 737 aircraft to be inspected because passenger oxygen masks could fail during an emergency.
The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that it had requested inspections of the 737 Max aircraft after multiple reports of passenger service unit oxygen generators being shifted out of position, a problem that could result in the inability to provide supplemental oxygen to passengers in the event of a depressurization.
The FAA said Boeing issued a bulletin to airlines on June 17 calling for inspections.
It noted that its airworthiness directive was effective immediately and required inspections and corrective actions if necessary within 120 to 150 days on the 737 model.
The FAA also prohibits airlines from installing potentially defective parts.
The agency said airlines should conduct a general visual inspection and, if necessary, replace oxygen generators with new or serviceable ones, attach thermal pads and reposition affected oxygen generators.
an agreement
The US government said today in a court filing that Boeing has agreed with the Justice Department to end a department investigation by pleading guilty to a criminal charge of conspiracy to commit fraud related to two 737 Max crashes that killed hundreds.
The plea, which authorities filed late Sunday and still requires approval from a federal judge, would open the planemaker up for criminal prosecution.
Boeing will also pay a criminal fine of $243.6 million, the Justice Department said in a filing in federal court in Texas, which provides an overview of an agreement in principle.
The charge relates to two 737 Max crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia within five months in 2018 and 2019, which killed 346 people and prompted victims’ families to demand Boeing be prosecuted.
A guilty plea could threaten the company’s ability to win lucrative government contracts with entities including the Pentagon and NASA, but it could seek exemptions. Boeing was subject to criminal prosecution after the Justice Department found in May that the company had failed to comply with settlements reached in 2021 related to the two crashes.
But the guilty plea spares Boeing a trial that would have been highly controversial and exposed many of the company’s decisions leading up to the crashes to greater public scrutiny, and it will make it easier for the company, which will have a new CEO later this year, to move forward with its bid to acquire Spirit Aerosystems.
A Boeing spokesman confirmed that it had “reached an agreement in principle with the Department of Justice on the terms of the settlement.”
According to the court filing, the company also agreed to invest at least $455 million over the next three years to enhance its safety programs.
