Boeing 737 MAX can fly again after being grounded for 20 months due to deadly crashes
- The 737 MAX crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia killed 346 people within five months in 2018 and 2019 and cost Boeing about US$20 billion
- The move by US aviation authorities to unground the Boeing 737 MAX is an ‘important milestone’ as the aviation giant works to return the plane to service
US regulators on Wednesday cleared the Boeing 737 MAX to take to the skies again, ending its 20-month grounding after two fatal crashes.
The move by US aviation authorities to unground the Boeing 737 MAX is an “important milestone” as the aviation giant works to return the plane to service, Boeing said on Wednesday.
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US lifts Boeing 737 MAX flight ban after finishing safety probe of Indonesia and Ethiopia crashes
“We will never forget the lives lost in the two tragic accidents that led to the decision to suspend operations,” Boeing chief executive David Calhoun said. “These events and the lessons we have learned as a result have reshaped our company and further focused our attention on our core values of safety, quality and integrity.”
The US planemaker’s bestselling jet will resume commercial service facing strong headwinds from a resurgent coronavirus pandemic, new European trade tariffs and mistrust of one of the most scrutinised brands in aviation.
“Our family was broken,” said Naoise Ryan, whose 39-year-old husband died aboard Ethiopian Airlines flight 302. “We are suffering and we’ll most likely continue to suffer for a very long time, if not for the rest of our lives.”
Indonesia Lion Air crash families will receive at least US$1.2 million each from Boeing, sources say
The 737 MAX is a re-engined upgrade of a jet first introduced in the 1960s. Single-aisle jets like the MAX and rival Airbus A320neo are workhorses that dominate global fleets and provide a major source of industry profit.
American Airlines plans to relaunch the first commercial MAX flight since the grounding on December 29. Southwest Airlines, the world’s largest MAX operator, does not plan to fly the aircraft until the second quarter of 2021.
Leading regulators in Europe, Brazil and China also must issue their own approvals for their airlines after independent reviews – illustrating how the 737 MAX crashes upended a once US-dominated airline safety system in which nations large and small for decades moved in lock-step with the FAA.
When it does fly, Boeing will be running a 24-hour war room to monitor all MAX flights for issues that could impact the jet’s return, from stuck landing gear to health emergencies, three people familiar with the matter said.
FAA administrator Steve Dickson signed an order lifting the flight ban early on Wednesday and the agency released an airworthiness directive detailing the required changes.
The FAA is requiring new pilot training and software upgrades to deal with a stall-prevention system called MCAS, which in both crashes repeatedly and powerfully shoved down the jet’s nose as pilots struggled to regain control.
The FAA, which has faced accusations of being too close to Boeing in the past, said it would no longer allow Boeing to sign off on the airworthiness of some 450 737 MAXs built and parked during the flight ban. It plans in-person inspections that could take a year or more to complete, prolonging the jets’ delivery.
Boeing meanwhile is scrambling to keep up maintenance and find new buyers for many of its mothballed 737 MAXs after receiving cancellations from their original buyers. Demand is further sapped by the coronavirus crisis.
Boeing dismissed Lion Air’s call for 737 MAX training a year before crash in Indonesia
Even with all the hurdles, resuming deliveries of the 737 MAX will open up a crucial pipeline of cash for Boeing and hundreds of parts suppliers whose finances were strained by production cuts linked to the jet’s safety ban.
Numerous reports have faulted Boeing and the FAA on the plane’s development. A US House of Representatives report in September said Boeing failed in its design and development of the MAX, and the FAA failed in its oversight and certification.
A silent plunge, then a deafening crash: how Indonesia’s Lion Air tragedy unfolded, likely killing 189
It also criticised Boeing for withholding crucial information from the FAA, its customers, and pilots including “concealing the very existence of MCAS from 737 MAX pilots”.
Boeing faces lawsuits from families of crash victims.
The House on Tuesday unanimously passed a bill to reform how the FAA certifies aeroplanes, while a Senate panel is to consider a similar bill on Wednesday.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse
