Canada opts to keep Boeing Max jets grounded for now
The Boeing 737 Max aircraft will not be returning to Canadian skies just yet, despite being cleared for takeoff by U.S. regulators.
Federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau said Wednesday that Canada will impose different requirements than the U.S. before it lifts the grounding orders for the plane, including additional procedures on the flight deck and pre-flight and differences in training for flight operators.
“Our government remains committed to keeping Canadians, the travelling public, and the transportation system safe and secure,” Garneau said, adding that he expects the validation process to conclude “very soon.”
Garneau's remarks followed a U.S. announcement that the Boeing 737 Max, which was involved in two mass casualty crashes in recent years, will be permitted to fly again once Boeing makes changes to the software and computer systems on each plane and provides training to pilots in flight simulators.
The planes have been grounded since March 2019 following the crashes of a Lion Air flight near Jakarta on Oct. 29, 2018, and an Ethiopian Airlines flight on March 10, 2019, killing a total of 346 people.
Among the casualties from the Ethiopian Airlines flight were 18 Canadians, including a professor at Carleton University in Ottawa; a conservationist from Orillia, Ont.; an Edmonton woman and her five-yearold daughter.
A lengthy investigation by the U.S. Congress prompted criticism of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration for setting lax standards in approving the aircraft to fly and of Boeing executives, who Congress said compromised safety to maximize profits. Investigators found that both crashes were caused by faulty sensors that pushed the aircraft's nose downward in flight.