Here we review the current situation regarding “when will the Max Return to Service”.
Introduction
Harmony among the main aviation regulators has been bittersweet, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has rightly agreed with major aviation regulators that Boeing must address the specific issues raised with the flight control system of the 737 MAX.
FAA Considerations related to Boeing Max
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been committed to ensuring the airplane’s safe return to service, and certainly, it should have. Their review has taken more than 18 months and included the full-time work of more than 40 engineers, inspectors, pilots, and technical support staff. The effort represents more than 60,000 FAA hours of review, certification testing, and evaluation of pertinent documents. This has so far included approximately 50 hours of FAA flight or simulator tests and FAA analysis of more than 4,000 hours of company flight and simulator testing.
But existing U.S. certification requirements don’t mandate the enhancements EASA and Transport Canada are requiring. Concerned at how the glaring flaws in the original MCAS design slipped through the MAX’s initial certification, the Europeans and Canadians have insisted on conducting their own independent safety assessments of the MAX recertification rather than automatically following the FAA lead.
So now it is time for Transport Canada’s Civil Aviation (TCCA) to conduct its own flight testing of the 737 MAX. In a public statement, TCCA has said “Transport Canada remains committed to ensuring that the flight restrictions in Canada are in place until fully satisfied that all safety concerns have been addressed by the manufacturer and the FAA and that enhanced flight crew procedures and training are in place”.
How Transport Canada plans to test fly the 737 MAX?
Transport Canada has completed its review of the results of the FAA’s own series of flight tests. As a result, it is ready to proceed in conducting its own validation test flights using a test aircraft to fly from and to Vancouver starting the week of August 24th.
The plan as laid out by Transport Canada:
- Transport Canada employees will be flown to Seattle, WA, to conduct evaluations on the engineering simulator at the Boeing facility.
- The employees will then be flown back to Vancouver, BC.
- For the flight test activities, as a result of the ongoing COVID 19 situation and to ensure the health and safety of Transport Canada employees, the test aircraft will fly to Vancouver, BC, to allow Transport Canada employees to board.
- Flight testing will take place in US airspace, and then the aircraft will return to Vancouver, BC, to allow Transport Canada employees to disembark.
It will be interesting to know the outcome of TCCA tests on the 737 MAX.
EASA Status regarding Resolution of Boeing Max Certification Issues
Still no news however on when EASA will start conducting their own recertification tests.
More details enquires please contact team@aets-sofema.com
Tags:
aviation, EASA, Boeing 737 MAX, Boeing 737 MAX design, Boeing 737 MAX Practical training, Boeing 737 MAX Safety, Boeing 737 MAX Theoretical training, EASA Part 147 compliant training, FAA Approval
