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By Bruce Campion-Smith, Ottawa Bureau, Fri., Dec. 13, 2019
OTTAWA—Famed consumer safety advocate Ralph Nader is appealing to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to ensure that Canada does an independent review of the safety of the Boeing 737 Max before clearing the troubled jet to resume commercial flights.
Nader, who made his name in the field of consumer protection, notably on automobile safety, says the “disgraced” U.S. Federal Aviation Administration can’t be trusted and that it’s now up to Transport Canada to determine whether fixes proposed by Boeing will truly address the jet’s design flaws.
“It’s a Canadian declaration of independence regarding civil aviation safety. Make up their own mind and do their own certification,” Nader told the Star in an interview from Washington, D.C.
“Obviously the Canadian decision is very important. It’s not likely that the FAA will unground the plane unless Canada goes along,” he said. “We’re relying on Canada here … The FAA will not go without Canada.”
Under international protocols, because the 737 Max is built in the United States, Canada relied on the FAA to certify the 737 Max, the latest variant of a jet that first flew in the 1960s.
Yet the two crashes have raised questions about regulatory oversight over the certification of new or updated aircraft and whether the FAA delegated too much authority to Boeing.
As a result, Nader is pressing Canada not to rely on the say-so of the FAA but do its own rigorous examination of the jet’s design as well.
The 737 Max jets have been grounded worldwide since March following the second of two fatal crashes — Lion Air Flight 610 in Indonesia in October 2018, followed by Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 at Addis Ababa in March. The two crashes killed 346 people, including 18 Canadians.