US orders review of Boeing 737 max aircraft license

The US government has ordered a review of the way Boeing's 737 Max aircraft got its license to fly.

Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao has asked her department's inspector general to audit the certification process for the Boeing 737 Max 8 airplane.

This comes as federal investigators are looking into how the FAA approved the plane after similarities were found in two deadly crashes in less than five months. Mike Slack, an aviation attorney, licensed pilot, and former NASA engineer, joins CBSN to discuss.

One focus of crash investigators have been Max's anti-stall system, which Boeing says needs a software update.

In a memo to Inspector General Calvin Scovel, Chao said she wanted the review in order to "assist the Federal Aviation Administration (the regulator) in ensuring that its safety procedures are implemented effectively".

After the crash of the Ethiopian Airlines aircraft on March 10 which followed a Lion Air disaster in October, there were questions about why the FAA took so long to ground the 737 Max.

According to reports, the US Justice Department has also begun preliminary inquiries into the FAA's oversight of the Boeing aircraft.

Meanwhile, Europe and Canada said they would seek their own assurances over the safety of the aircraft, a move likely to complicate plans to get the aircraft flying again across the world.

European and Canadian regulators have typically tended to follow the FAA's lead.

The European Union's aviation safety agency EASA promised its own deep look at any design improvements.

The two crashes killed 346 people. While there is no conclusive evidence so far that they are linked, French experts analyzing the Ethiopian Airlines' flight data black box say early investigations point to "clear similarities".

Experts believe a new automated system in Boeing's aircraft - intended to stop stalling by dipping the nose - may have played a role in both crashes, with pilots unable to override it.

Boeing said in a statement that it would fully cooperate with the inspector general's review.