Federal Aviation Administration will not approve 737 MAX in 2019

December 13th 2019

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Boeing had expected approval from the regulator by year-end. China raises concerns about MAX design changes. Read More »

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) boss, Steve Dickson, told a U.S House committee hearing this week that the FAA would not approve the 737 MAX to fly this year, in an apparent rebuke to Boeing for saying the ban on the MAX would be lifted this month. Dickson did not say when the MAX would be approved to fly.

The panel heard that after last year’s Lion Air JT610 crash, an internal FAA report concluded that without changes, the MAX would have another 15 crashes over a programme lifecycle of around 30 years, meaning the report believed there would be, on average, a 737 MAX crash every two to three years. This is significantly above average and irrespective of any external event that may cause a MAX to crash, or a MAX crash from reasons unrelated to Lion Air and Ethiopian crashes. The FAA did not ground the MAX until the second crash.

Media attention on the MAX also is focused on whistle blowers who foresaw problems. Separately, the FAA is reviewing approval it gave Boeing earlier this year to change how its 787 wings are protected from lightning strikes, resulting in possible damage and fire with the fuel tanks in the wing. Any change ordered by the FAA would have wider implications for Boeing because the 777X’s wing is using the same methods as the new 787 wing.

On December 12, China’s regulator revealed to Reuters it had raised “important concerns’ with Boeing about the reliability and security of design changes made to the grounded MAX. Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) spokesman, Liu Luxu, said in a monthly media briefing, the regulator could not say when the aircraft type would fly again on the Mainland.

China was the first country to ground the 737 MAX after the type’s second crash in Ethiopia in March this year. Even if the FAA approves the MAX for return to service, individual in-country regulators can make independent assessments of the airworthiness of the aircraft and make their own decisions about returning the MAX to the skies.