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But she added that the government has delegated certification duties to the aviation industry since the 1920s.

“This is not a new procedure,” she said. “It has been expanded over the years.”

Ms. Chao stressed that the F.A.A. sets safety standards that airlines must meet while developing aviation technology. The certification process, she said, “is, of course, subject to oversight and supervision by the F.A.A.”

“This method of having the manufacturer also be involved in looking at these standards is really necessary, because once again, the F.A.A. cannot do it on their own,” she said. “They need to have the input from the manufacturer.”

F.A.A. chief says it will go ‘wherever the facts lead us’

In testimony prepared for the afternoon hearing, Mr. Elwell, the F.A.A.’s acting administrator, defended his agency’s procedures for certifying new aircraft. He said they are “extensive, well-established and have consistently produced safe aircraft designs for decades.”

As the crashes are investigated, however, Mr. Elwell also pledged that his agency “will go wherever the facts lead us in the interest of safety.”

“The 737 Max will return to service for U.S. carriers and in U.S. airspace only when the F.A.A.’s analysis of the facts and technical data indicate that it is appropriate,” he said in the prepared remarks. “In our quest for continuous safety improvement, the F.A.A. welcomes external review of our systems, processes and recommendations.”

Mr. Elwell’s prepared testimony did not include any significant revelations about what may have led to the crash in Ethiopia. But he did shed some light on the timeline for the development of a software fix for the Max, which Boeing began working on after the Lion Air crash. Boeing provided a proposed software fix to the F.A.A. for certification on Jan. 21, more than a month before the crash in Ethiopia, according to the testimony.