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By Joanna Plucinska and Tim Hepher
COLOGNE (Reuters) - The acting head of Europe’s aviation regulator has warned the agency would suspend its indirect approval of Boeing’s jet production if warranted, but told Reuters he felt reassured that the planemaker is tackling its latest safety crisis.
In an interview, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency's (EASA) acting executive director, Luc Tytgat, gave the first public indication that international cooperation underpinning global airplane production was being tested as rarely before by the ongoing crisis over Boeing's best-selling 737 MAX series.
Asked on Wednesday if EASA would be prepared to stop recognising U.S. approvals declaring that Boeing jets are built safely, Tytgat said: "If need be, yes".
Boeing has been under mounting pressure over factory controls since Jan. 5, when a door plug tore off a 737 MAX 9 jet in mid-air in an incident blamed on missing bolts.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said last week an audit of Boeing and supplier Spirit AeroSystems found multiple instances of poor controls.
Under a transatlantic pact, the FAA and EASA regulate the factories of their respective planemakers - Boeing and Airbus - and recognise each other's safety approvals.
If one side loses confidence in the other's compliance checks, it can call for consultations and, if those fail, suspend recognition after a pause of 30 days.
Such steps are rare, however.
"All the tools must be implementable as soon as we see the justification or situation that requires us to take appropriate measures," Tytgat said, adding that no such action was imminent.
EASA's influence over the design of Boeing planes has grown following two MAX crashes, but it has relatively few ways to increase its monitoring of the production of existing Boeing models other than the drastic option of suspending recognition.
Pressed on what would push EASA to go that far, Tytgat said, speaking only for himself: "More fatal accidents in the future".
The FAA did not comment directly on Tytgat's remarks but a spokesperson reiterated the agency's earlier statements that Boeing must commit to “real and profound improvements”.
Boeing declined comment.
'REASSURED' ON BOEING
Tytgat did not see any immediate threat to Boeing's production certification, however.
"We don't see why (it) cannot be maintained today. It is more (about) the oversight and monitoring conditions that are in place."
Tytgat said he held a discussion with senior Boeing executives on Friday that was reassuring.