> In fact, 75% of the DC-10’s certification items were handled by FAA-designated engineers who worked for McDonnell Douglas, a practice known as delegation. Del

> In fact, 75% of the DC-10’s certification items were handled by FAA-designated engineers who worked for McDonnell Douglas, a practice known as delegation. Delegation is necessary to some extent because the FAA lacks enough staff to certify every part of every new airplane. But in this case, the engineer who the FAA had assigned to certify the vent door was the same man who had conducted the tests of the door on behalf of McDonnell Douglas.