MAX - Boeing mener seg ferdigtestet, men Canada er ikke overbevist - Curt Lewis

BOEING COMPLETES FINAL ENGINEERING TEST FLIGHT FOR 737 MAX UPDATE


The 737 MAX on one of its test flights. Photo: Boeing.

Boeing has completed the last official engineering flight test of updated Boeing 737 MAX software update prior to a certification flight with the US Federal Aviation Administration.

Boeing chief executive Dennis Muilenburg said the company's test pilots on April 16 completed 120 MAX flights totaling more than 203 hours of air time with the updated maneuvring characteristics augmentation system software.

"We're making steady progress towards certification,'' he said in a tweet. "Yesterday we completed the official engineering flight test of the updated software with our technical and engineering leaders on board the airplane.

"That was the final test flight prior to the certification flight.'

Muilenburg said he had completed a demonstration flight and had seen first hand the software in its final form "operating as designed across a range of flight conditions".

"And around the world, more than 85 percent of 50 plus MAX customers and operators have now experienced the new software through a series of simulator sessions."

The Boeing boss said a team of Boeing pilots, engineers, technical experts and the company's partners had comprehensively tested the software to make sure it did the job.

"And they're taking the time to get it right,'' he said. "Safety is our responsibility - e own it - and the work of our team will make the &37 MAX one of the safest airplanes ever to fly.

"That's our commitment."

The aircraft manufacturer now has to convince the FAA and other regulators around the world that the software fix and related training changes mean the MAX is safe to fly again.

Equally importantly, it has to persuade the flying public that its commitment is not just another example of the spin they have come to expect from big corporations.

That will require open and comprehensible explanations of what the company has done to ensure there is no repeat of October's Lion Air crash and last month's Ethiopian Airlines tragedy.

This is despite the fact that air safety investigators from both countries have yet to identify probable causes for the crashes and may not have done so by the time it returns to service.

In both cases, it is likely to be a chain of events in which MCAS played a part but was not solely responsible for the end result.

A number of chief executives from airlines operating the MAX have expressed confidence the company's software fix will ensure the plane is safe.

But comments by Canada's Transport Minister on Thursday about proposed changes to MAX training suggest the road to redemption may have a few potholes.

Canada May Require MAX Sim Training

RUSS NILES

Canada’s Transport Minister Marc Garneau is suggesting he’ll break ranks with the FAA’s handling of the Boeing MAX 8 fix and require simulator training for MAX pilots flying in Canadian airspace. The FAA has so far said it will not require sim time for MAX pilots as it works with Boeing on a software update to address the potential safety issues associated with the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS). Garneau said last week he’s not sold on that approach. “Simulators are the very best way, from a training point of view, to go over exactly what could happen in a real way and to react properly to it,” Garneau said. “It's part of it—the software fixes ... and the training itself, which in my mind requires simulation time,” Garneau, a retired astronaut, said at an event. Canada has not issued a directive on simulator requirements yet, however. To date, no sim time has been required for 737NG pilots transitioning to the MAX, even though the cockpit is substantially different and the MCAS was added. Last week, an FAA panel said computer and classroom instruction will be enough for current NG pilots to make the switch to the MAX. Garneau was not impressed. “From our point of view, it's not going to be a question of pulling out an iPad and spending an hour on it,” he said referring to published reports about the training some pilots have received. If other countries follow Canada’s lead, there will instantly be a shortage of full-fidelity MAX simulators. Air Canada says it owns the only one in North America besides those used by Boeing itself and there are reportedly only two airline-owned MAX simulators in Europe.