FAA's close ties to Boeing questioned after 2 deadly crashes

For more than six decades, the Federal Aviation Administration has relied on employees of airplane manufacturers to do government-required safety inspections as planes are being designed or assembled. But critics say the system, dubbed the "designee program," is too cozy as company employees do work for an agency charged with keeping the skies safe while being paid by an industry that the FAA is regulating. "There is a potential conflict of interest," said Todd Curtis, a former Boeing Co. safety