WASHINGTON, D.C. (WGAN)  Members of a Senate subcommittee clashed with Federal Aviation Administration officials Wednesday, contending the agency was too deferential to Boeing in approving the 737 Max airliner.

Senators cited newspaper reports of lax oversight as the jet and flight control software called MCAS were developed.

The software, which points the plane’s nose down to avoid an aerodynamic stall, has been implicated in two deadly crashes.

Subcommittee Chairwoman Sen. Susan Collins joined the WGAN Morning News to talk about the hearings.  She raised questions about the FAA’s program of designating company employees to do inspections of aircraft as they are being developed and built. She cited a report in The New York Times that said FAA managers appeared to be more concerned about Boeing meeting production timelines than for the safety of the Max.

“It appeared to me that the FAA had delegated too much responsibility for certifying the safety of the aircraft to the manufacturer.  And that’s what I wanted to explore in our hearings.”

The Lion Air crash was followed in March by the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines Max, with a total of 346 people dying in both. Eventually the planes were grounded worldwide, with the FAA among the last agencies to do so.

Collins says she met with Boeing officials twice leading up to the oversight hearings and says those meetings only proved to her the importance of the FAA’s role.

“The FAA’s first priority has to be safety, always,” Collins said during her call on Thursday morning.  “And if it finds that there are shortcuts being taken or results that suggest that safety is being compromised, the agency has to act aggressively.”

Collins says the agency’s delay in grounding the aircraft after the first crash troubles her.

“I don’t mean to imply that the FAA is not a good agency, I think they care deeply about safety and I also think they have very many good employees,” she said.  “But I think over the years, that the system of delegating more and more of the responsibility for safety to the manufacturer creates a conflict of interest because the manufacturer’s goal is to get the planes off the production line as quickly as possible.”

When asked about what ramifications these hearings could have on Boeing, Collins reiterated the importance of safety.

“Look, I think safety has to come first before considerations of whether Boeing is going to take a financial hit on this but Boeing is such a huge company that I do not believe that there is any risk that the company is going to go under as a result of this,” she said, adding “Safety has to be the first priority.”

Maine’s senior U.S. Senator also questioned the FAA about safety at the Presque Isle airport after a plane went off the runway in March.  A commercial commuter plane tried to land twice, the second time missing the runway and crashing.

Collins says she has been working since the accident to make sure some improvements can happen at the airport.

“The FAA has provided some additional funding to the airport to allow it to improve its snow removal process, better equipment.  And we’re also encouraging the FAA to take a look at whether or not more satellite guidance could be provided to pilots who are landing there.”

Collins says she doesn’t mean to try and suggest that the Presque Isle airport is not safe as she has landed there a number of times without incident, but said she wants to avoid a similar situation happening again.

“This was one incident, but it is an incident that should not have occurred and I want to make sure that the technology and equipment are in place to prevent it from ever happening again.”