Columbia Probe Examines Boeing Job Moves

Engineers in Southern California built the space shuttle fleet and helped maintain it for more than 20 years, until Boeing Co. decided two years ago to begin moving 1,100 engineering jobs in the program to Texas and Florida.

What seemed like a routine case of an aerospace company searching for lower costs or stronger political support in another state, however, has become something more: Investigators are examining whether the move eviscerated Boeing's technical capability and played a role in the Columbia disaster on Feb. 1.

The decision to move the jobs was highly unpopular among Boeing's workforce, and about 80% of the California engineers refused to relocate, forcing the company to hire workers in Texas and forfeit much of the experience of its California engineering base.

The ill-fated Columbia's launch in January marked the first time Boeing's Texas engineers had primary responsibility for providing technical assistance to NASA, according to investigators. During the mission, the Boeing engineers in Houston were asked to assess whether the shuttle's wing had been damaged during the launch and they subsequently advised the space agency in writing that the orbiter could return safely to Earth.

Whether that erroneous assessment was caused by an inexperienced staff and can be blamed at least in part on Boeing's decision to leave Southern California is an important issue being examined by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board.

Maj. Gen. John Barry, a member of the board, said a broad range of questions is being asked about the capability and training of the Boeing engineers who advised NASA during the Columbia mission. The board has asked Boeing and NASA to produce all the documents involved in the relocation.

"The reason we are looking at Huntington Beach and Palmdale is to see if there were any factors involved there that may have contributed to this mishap," Barry said. "We have a lot more work to do."

Boeing's rationale for the shift was to improve management efficiency by moving the engineers closer to the space shuttle headquarters in Houston and to reduce long-term costs, said Steve Oswald, the company's space shuttle program manager. Oswald said Boeing was careful to preserve its technical expertise.