Tests on revised Boeing 737 MAX software will determine how well average airline pilots globally will be able to handle emergencies.
Photo: jason redmond/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesThe next challenge for bringing Boeing Co.’s 737 MAX jets back into service is slated to play out as early as this week, with another government test flight assessing the safety of software fixes.
Called an operational readiness review, it is among a series of test flights anticipated over the next several weeks featuring federal pilots along with airline crews from around the world, all intended to vet changes to the fleet’s flight-control system, according to people familiar with the details.
Among the goals of the impending airborne checks and ground-simulator sessions is to determine how well average airline pilots globally will be able to handle emergencies using the revised software. The coming test is a previously scheduled follow-up to three days of formal certification flight tests performed by Boeing and Federal Aviation Administration pilots last week.
If all goes well, the FAA order that grounded the planes in March of 2019 is expected to be lifted in September. Once pilot-training mandates are finalized and maintenance requirements are completed, government and industry officials familiar with the process envision the MAX fleet being authorized to carry passengers around the end of the year.
Timelines for returning the MAX fleet to the air, though, have repeatedly slipped over many months, leading to widespread predictions that additional delays are possible.
More on the Boeing 737 MAX
Most recently, arranging the logistics and participants for some of the expected international test flights has turned out to be more controversial and time-consuming than originally thought, the officials said. That is partly due to travel restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic, but also reflects differences among national aviation regulators about which pilots should participate in certain test flights.
The FAA and Canada’s air-safety regulator continue to discuss the makeup of specific flight crews, with one official briefed on the matter saying the conflicting views have prompted disagreements and friction between the U.S. side and Transport Canada. Pilots from Brazil and Europe also are expected to participate in some of the test flights.
Transport Canada didn’t have any immediate comment. Boeing declined to comment on the status of future flight tests or any FAA-Canadian discussions, with a spokesman saying “we continue to work diligently on safely returning the MAX to service.”
After last week’s flights, the FAA called them an important milestone but reiterated the agency is “following a deliberate process and will take the time it needs to thoroughly review Boeing’s work.”
In addition to more test flying, the FAA has said it would consider recommendations from experts from other federal agencies before giving the green light to the MAX. FAA chief Steve Dickson and his deputy, Daniel Elwell—both former U.S. Air Force and commercial pilots—are also expected to personally test out the software fixes during their own test flights
Separately, Democratic leaders of the House Transportation Committee are putting the finishing touches on a bill seeking to revamp the certification process for new aircraft designs, particularly the way some company personnel are designated to carry out oversight responsibilities on behalf of the FAA.
The legislation taking shape, according to a person briefed on the bill, would require some of those so-called designees to be paid by the FAA for the time they spend working on the agency’s behalf.
Currently those designees are paid entirely by their companies, raising questions about loyalty and lines of authority.
The Transportation Department’s internal watchdog released a report last week highlighting a breakdown in communication between such dual-hatted company officials and FAA experts overseeing initial development and safety approval of the MAX.
Two 737 MAX planes went into fatal nosedives less than five months apart, as the same automated flight-control feature called MCAS misfired and overpowered efforts by pilots to avoid crashes. The accidents took 346 lives, put the MAX fleet on the ground and prompted a financial and reputational crisis for the Chicago plane maker.
Since the crashes, a string of outside reports also have criticized the FAA and Boeing for failing, during the initial certification process, to adequately consider how quickly average commercial pilots would react to an MCAS misfire and resulting emergency. Traditionally, Boeing and international air-safety regulators relied on input from test pilots or other highly experienced company pilots to set the benchmark for how those average pilots were expected to respond. Specifically, industry guidelines anticipated that pilots would begin responding to such emergencies within four seconds.
Prompted by a string of outside reports, both the FAA and Boeing have said publicly that they jettisoned that decades-old design assumption.
—Andrew Tangel contributed to this article.
Write to Andy Pasztor at andy.pasztor@wsj.com
Copyright ©2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
"Max" - Google News
July 06, 2020 at 04:23AM
https://ift.tt/31MotjL
Next Boeing 737 MAX Government Test Flight Scheduled for Coming Days - The Wall Street Journal
"Max" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2YlVjXi
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Next Boeing 737 MAX Government Test Flight Scheduled for Coming Days - The Wall Street Journal"
Post a Comment