The U.S.Federal Aviation Administration has identified a new risk that Boeing Co mustaddress on its 737 MAX before the grounded jet can return to service, theagency said on Wednesday.
The riskwas discovered during a simulator test last week and it is not yet clear if theissue can be addressed with a software upgrade or will require a more complexhardware fix, sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
The FAA didnot elaborate on the latest setback for Boeing, which has been working to getits best-selling airplane back in the air following a worldwide grounding inMarch in the wake of two deadly crashes within five months.
The newissue means Boeing will not conduct a certification test flight until July 8 ina best-case scenario, the sources said, but one source cautioned it could facefurther delays beyond that. The FAA will spend at least two to three weeksreviewing the results before deciding whether to return the plane to service,the people said.
Last month,FAA representatives told members of the aviation industry that approval of the737 MAX jets could happen as early as late June.
The world’slargest planemaker has been working on the upgrade for a stall-preventionsystem known as MCAS since a Lion Air crash in Indonesia in October, whenpilots were believed to have lost a tug of war with software that repeatedlypushed the nose down.
A seconddeadly crash in March in Ethiopia also involved MCAS. The two accidents killeda total of 346 people.
“On themost recent issue, the FAA’s process is designed to discover and highlightpotential risks. The FAA recently found a potential risk that Boeing mustmitigate,” the FAA said in the statement emailed to Reuters. “The FAA will liftthe aircraft’s prohibition order when we deem it is safe to do so.”
Boeing saidin a securities filing late on Wednesday that the FAA has asked it to addressthrough software changes a specific flight condition not covered in thecompany’s already-unveiled software changes.
The U.S.planemaker also said it agreed with the FAA’s decision and request, and wasworking on a fix to address the problem.
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“Boeingwill not offer the 737 MAX for certification by the FAA until we have satisfiedall requirements for certification of the MAX and its safe return to service,”Boeing wrote in the filing.
INTENSESCRUTINY
Boeing’saircraft are being subjected to intense scrutiny and testing designed to catchflaws even after a years-long certification process.
Two peoplebriefed on the matter told Reuters that an FAA test pilot during a simulatortest last week was running scenarios seeking to intentionally activate the MCASstall-prevention system. During one activation it took an extended period torecover the stabilizer trim system that is used to control the aircraft, thepeople said.
It was notclear if the situation that resulted in an uncommanded dive can be addressedwith a software update or if it is a microprocessor issue that will require ahardware replacement.
In aseparate statement, Boeing said addressing the new problem would remove apotential source of uncommanded movement by the plane’s stabilizer.
A hardware fix could add new delays to the plane’s return to service.
The FAA also said on Wednesday that it continues “to evaluate Boeing’s softwaremodification to the MCAS and we are still developing necessary training requirements.We also are responding to recommendations received from the Technical AdvisoryBoard. The TAB is an independent review panel we have asked to review our workregarding 737 Max return to service.”
American Airlines Group Inc and Southwest Airlines Co earlier canceled flights throughearly September as a result of the grounding. On Wednesday, United Airlinessaid it also was removing MAX flights from its schedule through Sept. 3.
(Published by,Reuters, June 2019)
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