By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Boeing officials inappropriately coached test pilots during recertification efforts after two fatal 737 MAX crashes killed 346 people, according to a lengthy congressional report released on Friday.
The report from the Senate Commerce Committee Republican staff raised questions about testing this year of a key safety system known as MCAS tied to both fatal crashes was contrary to proper protocol.
The committee concluded Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Boeing officials had established a pre-determined outcome to reaffirm a long-held human factor assumption related to pilot reaction time . It appears, in this instance, FAA and Boeing were attempting to cover up important information that may have contributed to the 737 MAX tragedies.