Story ID: 
GAO: Validation Process Unpredictable Since Max Crashes
By: Kerry Lynch
Caption: Stakeholders say foreign aviation authorities have less trust in FAA certification
Word Count: 301
In the aftermath of the Boeing Max crashes, U.S. aircraft manufacturers have found the certification validation process has become unpredictable. Civil aviation authorities (CAAs) are requesting more and a varying amount of data, as well as extending the duration of the review process, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found.
As a result, the GAO is recommending that the U.S. FAA review its process for managing international validations to help build in more predictability. The GAO reviewed the processes out of concerns that, despite long-standing bilaterals, U.S. companies “continue to report experiencing difficulties in obtaining approvals of their products in other countries.”
Stakeholders interviewed cited a reduced trust these CAAs have in FAA’s certification following the Boeing 737 Max 8 accidents that occurred in 2018 and 2019. At the same time, FAA staffing and resource limitations have proved challenging in its ability to resolve disputes with other CAAs, the government watchdog added.
The FAA has begun to collect more detailed information surrounding its management of international validations. “However, FAA has not evaluated the effectiveness of the validations process as a whole,” the GAO said. It further noted that the FAA is in the early stages of developing an approach to assess the process, but has not yet identified specific steps or time frame for such an approach.
“Assessing the validations process could help FAA identify improvements that might lead to increased predictability in the process and improved accountability to bilateral agreements,” the GAO said.
Specifically, the GAO is recommending that FAA establish quantifiable goals for the validation process, provide performance metrics for achieving those goals, assess the results to determine necessary improvements, and establish a timeframe for this effort.  The FAA agrees with the recommendations, the GAO added.