Two planes have collided at Boston Logan International Airport, prompting more speculation about airline safety in the US. There were no injuries in the incident between two JetBlue planes on February 8, and officials say the aircraft hit each other while waiting for de-icing. A wing was damaged on one plane and the tail section on the other.
JetBlue’s statement said, “Safety is JetBlue’s priority, and we will work to determine how and why this incident occurred.” The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed the incident and said it would conduct investigations in partnership with the airline.
Recent incidents involving aircraft accidents have prompted growing speculation that safety standards may have dropped in the US, with the FAA blaming airlines and vice versa. The US Senate said the FAA was not sufficiently overseeing safety back in 2021, and since then, incidents have continued.
A Commerce Committee report following two fatal Boeing 737 MAX crashes over a five-month period found that FAA “oversight of the certification process has eroded” and that the agency had outsourced safety inspections to airline manufacturers. The report concluded that the federal agency must improve standards and employ more safety engineers.
Boeing 737 Max aircraft were grounded in January when a door flew off a plane at 16,000 feet, causing an emergency landing. An Alaskan Airlines flight was taking off from Portland, Oregon when the frightening incident occurred, and subsequent investigations found that four bolts, which should have kept the door in place, were missing.
Media reports cite internal Boeing sources who claim that safety inspections dropped and the company lost many inspectors during the coronavirus pandemic, which have not yet been replaced. Boeing said it has hired more inspectors, but the source, who spoke on condition that they not be identified, said these are inexperienced and working on aircraft that are produced too quickly.
Boeing stated that its safety inspection staff receive six months’ training before they start work.
