FlyersRights.org submitted its reply brief to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case to obtain information on the fixes the FAA would approve for the Boeing 737 MAX and the results of flight tests and safety analyses. The case is scheduled for Oral Argument on April 20, 2023.
Paul Hudson, the President of FlyersRights.org, stated, “Boeing’s culture of concealment struck again. Independent experts remain unable to determine if the Boeing 737 MAX, whose original certification is alleged by the Department of Justice to be a product of a criminal conspiracy, is safe to fly. In the aftermath of the two Boeing 737 MAX crashes that killed 346 people, Boeing CEOs and FAA Administrators made numerous transparency pledges at Congressional hearings. Shockingly, the FAA is arguing that these promises were ‘vague’ and ‘not meant to be relied upon.’”
Hudson also commented, “In essence, the FAA argues that these public transparency pledges are, and should be interpreted by Boeing as, mere puffery.”
The brief argued that Boeing should have understood that the requested documents would be subject to public disclosure under FOIA.
FlyersRights.org also argued that alternate means of compliance are FAA working law, and keeping those means of compliance a secret would amount to the FAA operating a body of secret law.
Finally, the brief contended that the FAA did not properly segregate information that could be released from information that the FAA determined would be withheld.