Hours after Boeing announced that it will start distributing financial assistance to the families of victims of the two fatal crashes involving the 737 Max model, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it welcomes feedback from regulators around the world.
According to Reuters, new FAA Administrator, Steve Dickson, told regulators on Monday that countries and regulators across the world should unite to improve the way aircraft models are handled, designed, and maintained.
Dickson noted that accidents involving airplanes do not just stem from a single issue. Instead, these incidents happen due to a series of events or aspects included in a complex situation.
Monday's conference that focused on discussions regarding the recertification of the Boeing 737 Max jet was attended by representatives and industry experts from over 50 countries.
While some countries have pledged to perform their own tests and investigations on the Boeing 737 Max model, the conference encouraged international regulators and airlines to collaborate so division in terms of safety evaluations can be prevented.
To further encourage transparent feedback from other regulators, the FAA called for input from regulators in Brazil, Canada, and the (European Union Aviation Safety Agency) EASA. Transport Canada said pilot workload was one of the key areas that it will also assess in relation to the 737 Max jet's operation.
Before the briefing, Boeing announced that it will pay bereaved families $144,500 each. The funds will come from the allotted $50 million assistance fund that was initially announced in July for the victims' families.
According to BBC News, claims from families should be submitted before 2020. Amid the announcement, legal representatives for some of the families slammed the donations as a form of publicity.
Nomaan Husain, who represents 15 families, said the amount Boeing wants to give out "doesn't come close" to the compensation that the families deserve. He added that money will not "satisfy the families." Instead, the bereaved "want answers."
Furthermore, other legal counsels raised questions about the sincerity of Boeing in its assistance provisions. Lead counsel for the litigation of the Ethiopian Airlines 302, Robert Clifford, said the lack of details in July could be a form of diversion.
Clifford said Boeing did not provide clear details when it first announced the assistance it would give to the families. He said this could mean that the company may be trying to divert the attention away from the true issue: the safety of the 737 Max fleet.
The Boeing 737 Max jet was involved in two crashes in October and March that took the lives of 346 people. The aircraft remains grounded worldwide.
