A fresh hurdle now awaits American plane manufacturer , Boeing, as
Europe has disclosed plans to test – run and approve the 737 Max
models before their un – grounding and return to the airspace.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency ’ s ( EASA ) executive
director , Patrick Ky , told the European Parliament’s Committee on
Transport and Tourism that the EASA would individually approve the
embattled Max to fly only after Boeing has met four critical
conditions .
First , the agency “insisted that any change proposed by Boeing on the
resolution of these problems would need to be EASA approved” . Second
, as the European Union and the United States have an agreement on air
safety , the Federal Aviation Agency ( FAA) approved parts that the
EASA did not oversee .
Thus , as the Max re -enters service , the European agency will do a
“broader review of the design of the critical safety systems on the
Max” , which the EASA delegated the FAA to certify back when the
aircraft was approved for service in 2017 – a topic , “ not very
popular with our American colleagues ”, according to Ky.
The EASA sent a list of five changes to be made for the Boeing 737 Max
to fly again in the European skies. While most of the corrections
align with FAA’s recommendations, one of them related to the autopilot
might have never been raised before.
Also, EASA demanded “a complete understanding of the two accidents ”
and finally , it will require that “flight crews are adequately
trained ” regarding the changes that Boeing made to the 737 Max
software . EASA ’s executive director also noted that the agency was
in “regular and in very strong contact ” with the manufacturer and the
FAA, as every party involved were trying to get the jet back up in the
air .
Meanwhile, the FAA expects to conduct certification flights with the
grounded jet in October 2019 . Boeing stated that the company “assumes
” that the 737 Max would return to service “early in the fourth
quarter 2019”.
However , during his presentation , Ky noted that Boeing had not
implemented changes that would provide “appropriate response to Angle
Of Attack integrity issues ”, questioning whether the assumption would
come to fruition. Max operators share the skepticism, as they look
forward to the flights to resume in January 2020.
The changes to certification show how much the crisis had shaken up
the industry , creating a rift between agencies. A recent example of
how the agencies still worked together could be the Boeing 787
Dreamliners ’ groundings back in 2013 when the aviation authorities
grounded the type worldwide due to issues with batteries and
electronic systems .
The EASA followed the FAA’s directive and noted that the agency was
“working closely with the FAA as the primary certification authority
”. But when the second 737 Max suffered a fatal accident, the FAA was
not seen as the “primary ” agency anymore – Civil Aviation
Administration of China ( CAAC) was , as it was the first aviation
authority to ground the Max . In contrast , the FAA had “ not been
provided data to draw any conclusions or take any actions”.
Two days later, the FAA joined the rest of the agencies and banned the
narrow – body from operating commercial flights , one of the last
agencies to do so. And, as Boeing aims to return the newest 737 family
member to service as soon as possible , it seems like the FAA has lost
its status as a leading agency , adding further complexity to the last
chapter of the 737 Max crises.
