Boeing’s 737 Max cleared to fly in US
THE US Federal Aviation Administration has cleared Boeing’s 737 Max for flight nearly two years after it was grounded following a pair of deadly crashes.
America’s air safety agency announced the move yesterday, saying it was made after a comprehensive and methodical 20-month review process.
Regulators around the world grounded the Max in March 2019 after the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines jet, which happened less than five months after another Max flown by Indonesia’s Lion Air plunged into the Java Sea.
A total of 346 passengers and crew members on both planes were killed.
The planes will not return to the skies immediately as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says it must approve pilot training changes for each US airline and airlines must perform required maintenance on the planes.
The FAA says the move was made
in co-operation with air safety regulators worldwide.
“Those regulators have indicated that Boeing’s design changes, together with the changes to crew procedures and training enhancements, will give them the confidence to validate the aircraft as safe to fly in their respective countries and regions,” the FAA said in a statement.
The move came after numerous US congressional hearings on the crashes that led to criticism of the FAA for lax oversight and Boeing for rushing to implement a new software system that put profits over safety and ultimately led to the dismissal of its chief executive.
Investigators focused on anti-stall software that Boeing had devised to counter the plane’s tendency to tilt nose-up because of the size and placement of the engines. That software pushed the nose down repeatedly on both planes that crashed, overcoming the pilots’ struggles to regain control. In each case, a single faulty sensor triggered the nosedown pitch.
The FAA required Boeing to change the software so it does not repeatedly point the nose of the plane down to counteract possible aerodynamic stalling.
Boeing says the software does not over-ride the pilot’s controls like it did in the past. Boeing also must install new display systems for pilots and change the way wires are routed to a tail stabiliser bar.
“These events and the lessons we have learned as a result have reshaped our company and further focused our attention on our core values of safety, quality and integrity,” current Boeing chief executive David Calhoun said in a statement.
Boeing sales of new planes have plunged because of the Max crisis and the coronavirus pandemic. Orders for more than 1,000 Max jets have been cancelled or removed from Boeing’s backlog this year.