The Federal Aviation Administration has for years allowed many aerospace companies to use their own workers in place of FAA inspectors, a system that is coming under scrutiny after two Boeing 737 Max jetliners crashed, killing the crews and passengers. A total of 79 companies are allowed under federal policies to let engineers or other workers considered qualified report on safety to the FAA on systems deemed not to be the most critical rather than leaving all inspections to the government agency.
To critics, it's a regulatory blind spot.
"The FAA decided to do safety on the cheap -- which is neither safe nor cheap, and put the fox in charge of the henhouse," said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., in a statement. He's vowed to introduce legislation "so that the FAA is put back in charge of safety."
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