Министр транспорта США Элейн Чао просит генерального инспектора при министерстве изучить процесс получения сертификации Boeing 737-MAX 8 после двух авиакатастроф с самолетами этого типа.
"Безопасность является главным приоритетом департамента, и все мы опечалены гибелью людей в результате недавних аварий с участием двух самолетов Boeing 737-MAX 8 в Индонезии и Эфиопии. (...) Для информирования департамента с целью принятия решений и понимания общественностью, а также для оказания помощи Федеральному управлению гражданской авиации (FAA) в осуществлении процедур обеспечения безопасности, я хотела бы подтвердить свою просьбу о том, чтобы управление генерального инспектора провело ревизию для составления объективной и подробной фактической истории деятельности, которая привела к сертификации самолета Boeing 737-MAX 8", - следует из сообщения, опубликованного на сайте ведомства.
Уточняется, что изменения в сертификации были запрошены корпорацией Boeing для данной модели в 2012 году, при этом документы были получены в 2017 году.
Дополнительная валидация Канадой и EASA еще больше замедлит ввод.
The US government has ordered a review of the way Boeing's 737 Max aircraft got its licence to fly.
It comes after two crashes in five months, amid suggestions from experts that there were "clear similarities" between the disasters.
Transport secretary Elaine Chao has asked the US inspector general to audit the aircraft's certification process.
One focus of crash investigators has been the Max's anti-stall system, which Boeing says needs a software update.
In a memo to inspector general Calvin Scovel,
Ms Chao said she wanted the review in order to "assist the Federal Aviation Administration [the regulator] in ensuring that its safety procedures are implemented effectively".
After the crash of the Ethiopian Airlines aircraft last week - which followed a Lion Air disaster in October - there were questions about why the FAA took so long to ground the 737 Max.
Reuters has reported that the US Justice Department has also begun preliminary inquiries into the FAA's oversight of the Boeing aircraft.
Meanwhile, Europe and Canada said they would seek their own assurances over the safety of the aircraft, a move likely to complicate plans to get the aircraft flying again across the world.
European and Canadian regulators have typically tended to follow the FAA's lead.
The European Union's aviation safety agency EASA promised its own deep look at any design improvements.
"We will not allow the aircraft to fly if we have not found acceptable answers to all our questions," EASA executive Patrick Ky told an EU parliament committee hearing.
Canada, which ground the aircraft before the US, said it would independently certify the 737 Max in the future, rather than accepting FAA validation.
The FAA declined to comment on individual actions by Canada and the EU, but said in a statement that "the current, historic aviation safety record in the US and globally is achieved through the FAA's robust processes and full collaboration with the aviation community".
The transport secretary orders an independent assessment of the 737 Max certification process.