New software glitch hits Boeing to the Max
BOEING says it expects to finish work on updated flightcontrol software for the 737 Max in September, a sign that the troubled jet likely won’t be flying until late this year.
The latest delay in fixing the Max came a day after the disclosure that government test pilots found a new technology flaw in the plane during a test on a flight simulator.
The plane has been grounded since mid-March after two crashes that killed 346 people. Preliminary accident reports pointed to software that erroneously pointed the planes’ noses down and overpowered pilots’ efforts to regain control.
A Boeing official said on Thursday that the company expected to submit the software update to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for approval “in the September timeframe.” The official spoke on condition of anonymity because Boeing has not publicly discussed timing of the update.
Once Boeing submits its changes, the FAA is expected to take several weeks to analyse them. Airlines would need additional time to take their grounded Max jets out of storage and prepare them to fly again.
Airlines were already lowering expectations for a quick return of the plane, which has been grounded since midMarch.
Southwest Airlines, the biggest operator of Max jets, announced on Thursday that it had taken the plane out of its schedule for another month, through October 1. Earlier this week, United Airlines pulled the plane from its schedule through early September.
While Boeing engineers continue working on the plane’s software, company lawyers have pushed to settle lawsuits brought by the families of dozens of passengers killed in the October crash of a Lion Air Max off the coast of Indonesia and the March crash of an Ethiopian Airlines Max near Addis Ababa.
Boeing and the families of Lion Air Flight 610 victims agreed to mediation that could lead to early settlements. The families of some Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 passengers are resisting mediation.
“There are many families here who will not want to participate in mediation until they know what Boeing knew, when they knew it, what they did about it, and what they’re going to do about it to prevent this kind of disaster from occurring again,” said lawyer Robert Clifford, who filed lawsuits on behalf of nearly two dozen victims of the Ethiopian crash.