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Brought to you by the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency
Federal Reports
Report Date
Agency Reviewed / Investigated
Report Title
Type
Location
Department of Transportation
FAA Followed Its Policy When Responding to Fume Events in Boeing 737 MAX 8 Aircraft, But Further Assessment Is Warranted
To assess the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) actions in response to recent incidents of toxic smoke and fumes entering aircrafts' cockpit or cabin when load reduction devices (LRD) are activated. Our findings are organized as follows: (1) FAA's Corrective Action Review Board's (CARB) recommendation, (2) additional safety concerns identified by accident investigators, (3) potential issues unaddressed by the CARB, and (4) FAA's Flight Standards' assessment of simulator technology.
Why This Audit
In March and December 2023, bird strikes damaged the engines of Boeing 737 MAX 8 airplanes, causing oil mist and irritating fumes to enter the aircraft and putting aircrews and passengers at risk. In light of these incidents, and the disagreement between FAA offices about adoption of interim changes which could affect safety, we initiated this audit.
What We Found
FAA's CARB recommended an Airworthiness Directive via a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM).
The CARB, held on November 26, 2024, resulted in a consensus decision to address the risks posed by LRD activation incidents in LEAP-1B engines. The CARB recommended FAA publish an NPRM requiring the Agency to issue an Airworthiness Directive when LRD software updates become available.
FAA's Office of Accident Investigation and Prevention accident investigators identified several safety concerns that the CARB's recommended actions did not resolve to investigators' satisfaction.
FAA's senior air accident investigators identified several risks and provided associated recommendations to FAA leadership. The CARB did not agree that all the investigators' concerns required action.
The CARB did not address potential process and safety issues.
We identified several issues that could require further analysis and additional action, including how FAA monitors how long it will take to develop and install the updated engine software across the entire fleet of 737 MAX aircraft, notifies newly hired pilots of LRD activation hazards, and trains pilots on how to properly use oxygen equipment.
FAA's Flight Standards determined that simulator technology updates were needed to address LRD activation.
In response to FAA's request for a safety review of current flight simulator capabilities, two airlines indicated 737 MAX full flight simulators can increase vibration but do not incorporate LRD activation directly nor simulate smoke or fumes in the flight deck.
Recommendations
We made 4 recommendations to improve aviation safety related to LRD activation.
Update: As required by the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023, this report has been updated to include comments submitted by non-governmental organizations or business entities specifically identified in the report (see Appendix B).
We conducted this audit to determine whether the EPA is managing its Superfund special accounts properly and timely in accordance with applicable laws, policies, and guidance.
Summary of Findings
Based on our in-depth review of nine Superfund special accounts, we found that the EPA generally managed special accounts in accordance with applicable laws, policies, and guidance, with the exceptions that the EPA needs to take steps to expeditiously use the funds in the Anniston Lead Superfund Site special account and needs to correct special accounts with negative balances in a timely manner.
NASA awarded contracts to Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace in 2022 to compete to provide next-generation spacesuits for Artemis lunar missions and ISS operations. However, NASA and Collins agreed to remove the company’s task orders in 2024 citing an inability to meet the ISS demonstration schedule, leaving one spacesuit provider. Following this and other programmatic issues, NASA has been challenged to ensure readiness for the Artemis lunar surface mission in 2028 and the ISS before its planned decommission in 2030.
To determine to what extent the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) award and administration of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA)-funded facility and equipment (F&E) contracts meet domestic content laws and Agency requirements. Our findings are organized as follows: (1) FAA's Buy American IIJA-funded contract clauses, (2) FAA's Buy American waiver process, and (3) FAA's Buy American IIJA-funded contract data.
Why This Audit
Under IIJA, FAA received $25 billion between fiscal years 2022 and 2026 to address aging infrastructure-$5 billion of which is for F&E procurements. Enacted as part of IIJA, the Build America, Buy America Act (BABA) expanded existing domestic content laws. Our previous work identified several issues with FAA's oversight and administration of its Buy American program applicable to contracts. We initiated this audit given these previous findings, the magnitude of FAA's IIJA funding, and the intended impact of domestic content laws on the Nation's economy.
What We Found
FAA did not always include required Buy American-related clauses in IIJA-funded contracts.
FAA Contracting Officers must include all applicable Buy American-related clauses in IIJA-funded contracts. However, five of the nine contracts in our review were missing Buy American-related clauses-representing approximately $272.7 million in IIJA funds that could be put to better use.
FAA did not always properly issue Buy American waivers to support the use of foreign products in IIJA-funded contracts.
For the nine contracts included in our review, we confirmed FAA used foreign products in three of them-representing a total of $115.9 million in IIJA funds. These three contracts had Buy American waiver issues where FAA did not obtain a required waiver, did not follow the waiver approval process, and used a longstanding waiver without reassessing it.
FAA lacked complete and accurate Buy American data on its IIJA-Funded contracts.
FAA's Federal Procurement Data System-Next Generation (FPDS-NG) contained incomplete and inaccurate Buy American-related contract data, affecting DOT's ability to report accurate Buy American data to the Office of Management and Budget.
Recommendations
We made 6 recommendations to improve FAA's monitoring and enforcement of Buy American requirements for IIJA-funded contracts.
National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) Semiannual Report to the NCUA Board and the Congress highlighting our accomplishments and ongoing work for the 6-month period ending March 31, 2026.
