Boeing 737 MAX airplane on the ground seen parked at the Boeing facilities at Grant County International Airport
Washington:
After nearly two years of scrutiny, corporate upheaval, and a standoff with global regulators, Boeing Co on Wednesday gained approval from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to fly its 737 MAX again after two fatal disasters.
Detailed FAA software upgrades and training changes Boeing needs to make to resume commercial flights after a 20-month grounding, the longest in commercial aviation history.
The 737 MAX crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia killed 346 people in five months in 2018 and 2019 and sparked an investigation storm, shaken US leadership in global aviation and cost Boeing some $ 20 billion.
The US aircraft maker’s best-selling aircraft will resume commercial service amid strong headwinds from a resurgent coronavirus pandemic, new European trade tariffs and mistrust of one of the most watched brands of aviation.
“Our family was shattered,” said Naoise Ryan, whose 39-year-old husband died on Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 on Tuesday. “We are suffering and most likely will continue to suffer for a very long time, if not for the rest of our lives.”
The 737 MAX is a re-engined upgrade of a jet aircraft first introduced in the 1960s. Single-aisle jets like the MAX and its rival Airbus A320neo are workhorses that dominate global fleets and are a source major profit for the industry.
American Airlines plans to relaunch the first commercial MAX flight since the grounding on December 29. Southwest Airlines, the world‘s largest MAX operator, does not plan to fly the plane until the second quarter of 2021.
Major regulators in Europe, Brazil, and China are also due to issue their own approvals for their airlines after independent reviews – illustrating how the 737 MAX crashes upended a once-US-dominated airline safety system in which nations large and small for decades have evolved at the same rate. the FAA.
When it does fly, Boeing will run a 24-hour war room to monitor all MAX flights for issues that could impact the plane’s return from stuck undercarriage to health emergencies, they said. said three people familiar with the matter.
Long track ahead
FAA administrator Steve Dickson signed an order lifting the flight ban early Wednesday and the agency issued an airworthiness directive detailing the changes needed.
The FAA needs new pilot training and software upgrades to manage a stall prevention system called MCAS, which in both crashes repeatedly and powerfully pushed the nose of the jet as the pilots struggled to regain control.
The FAA, which has been accused of being too close to Boeing in the past, said it would no longer allow Boeing to validate the airworthiness of some 450 737 MAXs built and parked during the ban. It provides for in-person inspections that could take a year or more, extending the delivery of the jets.
Meanwhile, Boeing is working to maintain maintenance and find new buyers for many of its 737 MAXs put on hold after receiving cancellations from their original buyers. Demand is further undermined by the coronavirus crisis.
Even with all the hurdles, the resumption of deliveries of the 737 MAX will open up a crucial liquidity pipeline for Boeing and hundreds of parts suppliers whose finances have been strained by production cuts linked to the jet.
Numerous reports have criticized Boeing and the FAA over the development of the aircraft. A report from the US House of Representatives in September said Boeing had failed in the design and development of the MAX, and the FAA had failed in its oversight and certification.
He also criticized Boeing for withholding crucial information from the FAA, its customers and pilots, including “hiding the very existence of MCAS from the pilots of the 737 MAX.”
Boeing faces legal action from the families of the crash victims.
The House unanimously passed a bill on Tuesday to reform the way the FAA certifies aircraft, while a Senate committee is due to consider a similar bill on Wednesday.
(This story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
