Global major US aerospace group Boeing has announced that the quality management system in its Boeing Commercial Airplanes business will be reviewed by a team of experts recruited from outside the group. These experts will be led by retired US Navy Admiral Kirkland H Donald, who will report directly to Boeing group president and CEO Dave Calhoun.

This step was taken by the company following another major incident with one of its 737 MAX airliners. On January 5, a 737 MAX 9, operated by Alaska Airlines suffered explosive decompression when a deactivated emergency exit door blew out, as it climbed out of Portland, in the US state of Oregon. There were no fatalities, but had the event occurred later in the flight, there could very well have been. Previously, two crashes involving 737 MAX 8s, in 2018 and 2019, killed a total of 346 people. Notoriously, a flawed Boeing flight control system contributed to both crashes.

“Admiral Donald is a recognised leader in ensuring the integrity of some of the most complex and consequential safety and quality systems in the world,” highlighted Calhoun. “I’ve asked him to provide an independent and comprehensive assessment with actionable recommendations for strengthening our oversight of quality in our own factories and throughout our extended commercial airplane production system. He and his team will have any and all support he needs from me and from across the Boeing company.”

Donald’s last assignment in the US Navy was as Director: Naval Nuclear Propulsion Programme, a post that he held for eight years. In this position, his job was to ensure the safe and effective operation of all the US Navy’s nuclear-powered warships (aircraft carriers and submarines). Donald was a submarine officer for 37 years, and all US Navy submarines are nuclear-powered. He is thus very familiar with the requirements of quality control and assurance, in critically important applications. He is currently chairperson of the board of Huntingdon Ingalls Industries, the largest US builder of naval vessels.

Donald and his team will carry out a thorough evaluation of Boeing Commercial Airplanes’ quality management system. This will cover both the quality practices and programmes at Boeing’s own facilities, and the company’s oversight of quality practices and programmes at its commercial suppliers. The recommendations they produce will be presented to Calhoun and the Boeing board’s Aerospace Safety Committee.