Boeing says software update finished for grounded airliner

Boeing says it has finished with its updates to the flight-control software implicated in two deadly crashes involving its 737 Max, moving a step closer to getting the plane back in the sky.

Aviation regulators still have more questions about how pilots interact with the plane’s controls under different circumstances, and Boeing says it is providing that information.

The Federal Aviation Administration, foreign regulators and airlines are reviewing Boeing’s plans for additional pilot training, the company said Thursday. The next major step is a certification flight with FAA representatives. That flight hasn’t been scheduled.

In crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia that killed 346 people, an automated system called MCAS mistakenly turned the noses of the planes down in response to faulty readings from a single sensor. Pilots were unable to regain control.

Boeing has delivered about 370 Max jets around the world, but they have been grounded since midMarch. That is causing airlines to cancel flights heading into the busy travel season.

Boeing engineers have been working on the software update for more than six months — far longer than they expected — having started shortly after the Oct. 29 crash of a Max operated by Indonesia’s Lion Air. The changes will link an anti-stall feature in the flight-control system to two sensors instead of one and will push the nose down less often and less powerfully.

Chicago-based Boeing said it has flown 207 test flights with the new software. summer

EVGENY FELDMAN/AP A girl writes “I’m for the park” Thursday in front of a fence blocking demonstrators protesting plans to build a Russian Orthodox cathedral in a park in Yekaterinburg, Russia. Protesters say the project would take away a rare green, recreational space in the city.