Canadian politicians say its regulators should be “skeptical” of FAA aircraft certifications and do their own validation of new designs. The House of Commons transport committee wants Transport Canada to do its own recertification design changes rather than just accept the FAA’s recommendation. “The committee heard numerous concerns regarding the involvement of manufacturers in the certification process and the possibility of industry pressure on Transport Canada as the regulator,” the report said. Canada was slow to ground the MAX after two fatal crashes in late 2018 and early 2019 and it also delayed the return to service in early 2021 so it could do a thorough review of the FAA’s recertification data. There were 18 Canadians aboard Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, which crashed near Addis Ababa.
The parliamentary committee said many witnesses testified that Transport Canada is “overly reliant” on the FAA and other foreign authorities for certification, “raising concerns of rubber stamping” certifications. Among the other recommendations were including pilots and flight attendants in the certification process, more collaboration with safety organizations in other countries and the reestablishment of an “aviation regulatory council” to review the work. It also wants a report from Transport Canada on what it learned from the MAX experience.
