We’re starting to look at how we can get the MAX back into service, EU aviation safety chief said (File)
Paris, France:
Boeing’s ailing 737 MAX airliner, grounded for 18 months after two fatal crashes, could receive certification to fly to Europe again “by the end of the year,” the chief said on Friday. EU aviation safety.
Months after a Lion Air 737 MAX crashed in Indonesia that killed 189 people, a second disaster involving an Ethiopian Airlines plane in which 157 died resulted in worldwide flight bans for the model.
Now, “for the first time in a year and a half, I can see that we are nearing the end of work on the MAX,” said Patrick Ky, head of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), during a video press conference.
“We are starting to find out how to get the MAX back into service by the end of the year.”
In early September, EASA certification flights followed June testing by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in June.
But the plane still has to overcome several obstacles, including in the training of pilots, before the authorities give the green light.
“We continue to follow the lead of global regulators on the process they have established for the safe return of the 737 MAX to commercial service,” Boeing said in a statement.
“We appreciate the rigorous scrutiny that regulators rightly apply at every stage of their review and they will determine the timeline for return to service.”
In Ky’s opinion, even with “roughly simultaneous” clearance from EASA and FAA, it will be up to countries and airlines to give the green light to the resumption of 737 MAX flights.
A US Congressional report released earlier this month called the previous crashes “the gruesome culmination of a series of flawed technical assumptions on the part of Boeing engineers, a lack of transparency on the part of Boeing engineers. management and significantly insufficient FAA oversight. “
Ky said renewing the certification of China, the first country to bring the plane to a standstill, would “certainly” take a little longer because the Chinese regulator had not yet considered resuming flight tests.
But he added that a review of training at Gatwick Airport in London to help pilots adjust to the new procedures had gone well and that a report assessing that review would be ready in “two to three. weeks ”.
Boeing shares took off on Wall Street on Friday afternoon, after adding 3.1% about two hours into the session, while the Dow Jones index was slightly higher overall.
(This story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
