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FAA says 737 MAX recertification in “home stretch”
October 2nd 2020
U.S. Federal Aviation Administration administrator, Steve Dickson, said this week the process of re-certifying the grounded 737 MAX was on the "home stretch". Read More »
Dickson visited Seattle to personally conduct a two-hour flight on board a 737 MAX and experience a number of scenarios to demonstrate proposed software and design changes to the aircraft’s automated flight control system.
After the flight, the FAA boss said it was "important to me to experience the training and the handling of the aircraft first-hand, so I can have the most complete understanding possible as we continue to move forward with the process".
Before the flight, Dickson undertook the same training for the 737 MAX that the Joint Operations Evaluation Board (JOEB) recently reviewed at a nine-day gathering at London Gatwick Airport. He also had a session in a 737 MAX simulator, where he experienced a "variety of problems that presented the relevant emergencies that might occur".
Dickson said the flight was separate from the official certification process that was still underway by the FAA. Nonetheless, a “constructive week”, he said. "I liked what I saw," Dickson said.
"That does not mean I don't have some debrief items for the Boeing team and the FAA team. I have some observations I am going to share with them and that will be incorporated into the process going forward."
The FAA posted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for an Airworthiness Directive for the 737 MAX in August. The notice outlined the design changes to the aircraft's systems to address the causes of two fatal crashes, the first in 2018 and the second in 2019 that left 346 people dead.
The comment period for the NPRM closed on September 21 and the FAA was reviewing and responding to the filings ahead of a final ruling. A number of other steps also remain to be done before giving the aircraft the green light to return to the skies.
"We are not to the point yet where we have completed the process," Dickson said.
"The FAA will not approve the plane for return to passenger service until I’m satisfied we have adequately addressed all of the known safety issues that played a role in the tragic loss of 346 lives aboard Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302.
"I know you’ve heard me say this before, but the FAA continues to take a thorough and deliberate approach in our review of Boeing’s proposed changes to the 737 MAX.
"We are in the home stretch, but that doesn’t mean we are going to take shortcuts to get it done by a certain date."
While the FAA has not put a timeline on when the 737 MAX might receive the all-clear to fly again, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency executive director, Patrick Ky, said this week he expected to have the aircraft re-certified by the end of 2020.
"For the first time in a year and a half I can say there’s an end in sight to work on the MAX," Ky said. "We are looking at November."
