MAX og NG - Oppdatering - Curt Lewis

FAA Chief Vows Improved Safety Reviews of New Aircrafts and Pilot Technology By Alan Levin Aviation regulators around the world need to do a better job of assessing hazards in aircraft designs and understanding how pilots might be tripped up by complex technology in the wake of the two fatal crashes on Boeing Co.'s 737 Max, the chief of the Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday. FAA Administrator Steve Dickson, speaking before the Aero Club of Washington, said the agency is addressing concerns raised by several reviews of the crashes that killed 346 people after a safety system on the plane went haywire. "Going forward beyond the Max, some key things are emerging regarding aircraft certification processes, not only in the U.S. but around the world," Dickson told the aviation organization. "I'm committed to addressing each of these issues." Dickson identified three areas: moving to a more "holistic rather than transactional, line-by-line item approach"; integrating so-called "human factors" issues in designs so pilots are less likely to be tripped up by complex technical systems; and ensuring a better flow of information within different arms of FAA. A final report by Indonesian investigators found that Boeing and FAA expected pilots to react to problems on the Max faster than they actually did. Parts of FAA were more aware than others of the design involved in the accidents, which hindered the ability to assess its safety, the investigation found. Those findings were echoed in documents released by Congress. Dickson offered no specifics on the potential changes in aircraft certification and the agency hasn't announced a formal process to rewrite its regulations. Boeing said Monday it hopes FAA will approve its redesign of the 737 Max by the end of this year and write new training standards for the plane in January. It will still take airlines weeks or even months longer to get their planes back in the air. Southwest pilots union says Boeing may be trying to hasten 737 MAX return WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of the Southwest Airlines Co pilot union Wednesday sharply criticized Boeing Co and questioned whether the manufacturer was trying to speed up the timeline for the 737 MAX's return to service. FILE PHOTO: A number of grounded Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft are shown parked at Victorville Airport in Victorville, California, U.S., March 26, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo Boeing's best-selling 737 MAX has been grounded since March, after two deadly crashes in five months killed 346 people, and it has come under harsh criticism from U.S. lawmakers. Jon Weaks, who heads the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA), said in a note to pilots Wednesday, reviewed by Reuters, that "Boeing is increasingly publicizing that they may have to shut down their production line due to running out of room to store completed MAX aircraft. There is some concern that this is simply another tactic to push the (return to service) timeline up." He added doing so would "force operators to resume making payments on MAX aircraft, and transfer some costs, logistics, and responsibilities of storing and restoring the MAX to revenue service to respective operators." Boeing did not immediately comment late Wednesday. Southwest Airlines spokeswoman Brandy King said the airline is "confident in the work being done to return the MAX to service and continue to await additional guidance from Boeing and the FAA regarding timing and next steps." On Monday, Boeing spokesman Gordon Johndroe told Reuters that "we expect the Max to be certified, airworthiness directive issued, ungrounded in mid-December." He added that the company expects "pilot training requirements to be approved in January." Boeing noted that the "FAA and other regulatory authorities will ultimately determine return to service." Two federal officials told Reuters this week that Boeing's timetable is aggressive and far from certain, citing hurdles yet to be cleared. Boeing still must complete an audit of its software documentation before it can schedule a key certification test flight. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) chief Steve Dickson on Tuesday said the agency was not "delegating" anything to Boeing in its review and offered no ungrounding timetable, saying it "will be based solely on our assessment of the sufficiency of Boeing's proposed software updates and pilot training." On Friday, Southwest and American Airlines extended Boeing 737 MAX cancellations until early March, just shy of the one-year anniversary of an Ethiopian Airlines crash that led to a worldwide grounding. Last month, SWAPA sued Boeing, saying it had "deliberately misled" the airline and pilots. The grounding wiped out more than 30,000 Southwest Airlines flights, causing over $100 million in lost wages for pilots, the union said.

FAA expands area to inspect for cracks in Boeing 737 NG planes FILE PHOTO: The Boeing logo is displayed on a screen, at the NYSE in New York WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said on Tuesday it was revising its order requiring checks for structural cracks in Boeing 737 NG planes to cover a larger area after the company said additional cracks had been found. The FAA first said in September it was ordering checks for cracks on what is known as the "pickle fork," a part that attaches the plane's fuselage, or body, to the wing structure. Checks were required within seven days on planes with heavy usage. Boeing said on Tuesday after completing a round of inspections for cracking on some 737 NGs with a large number of take-offs and landings, one airplane was found to have a small crack in an adjacent location. "Boeing has asked those operators to also inspect the adjacent area to ensure any potential issue is identified and repaired," the company said in a statement. "The additional inspections are already underway. We regret the impact to our customers and have a repair plan in place to address any findings." To date, less than 5% of the 1,200 airplanes that have undergone the initial inspection were found to have cracks, Boeing said. The secondary issue has been discovered on three in-service airplanes and one airplane that was undergoing maintenance. The FAA said in a notice it was now expanding the inspection to the area around eight fasteners. Southwest Airlines Co found cracks in three airplanes after the initial inspections and has taken them out of service pending repairs. Southwest said after it completed required inspections it decided to continue "inspections until every NG aircraft in our fleet has been checked." The FAA directive requires airplanes with 30,000 or more cycles be re-inspected within 60 days, Boeing said. Airplanes with 22,600 to 30,000 cycles will need inspections of the full area within 1,000 cycles. A cycle is generally one take-off and landing. Last week, Lion Air found structural cracks on two 737 NG planes with fewer flights than an FAA threshold for checks. The Lion Air jets with cracks had fewer than 22,000 cycles and are now grounded for repairs, a spokesman for the airline said. Brazil's Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA , Australia's Qantas Airways and Korean Air Lines Co Ltd <003490 .ks=""> are among the other airlines that have grounded planes after discovering cracks. First delivered in 1997, the NG is the third generation of the 737, preceding the grounded MAX which is unaffected by cracking.

Boeing orders sink as customers opt to swap MAX FILE PHOTO: An aerial photo shows Boeing 737 MAX aircraft at Boeing facilities at the Grant County International Airport in Moses Lake (Reuters) - Boeing Co took 10 new plane orders last month, but saw some customers swapping the U.S. planemaker's grounded 737 MAX planes in favor of more expensive wide-body planes as doubts lingered about the MAX's return to service. Net orders so far this year came to just 45 at the end of October, down from 56 in September, further widening the gap on sales this year with the company's European rival Airbus SE which has now sold nearly 500 more planes. After an accounting adjustment representing jets ordered in previous years, but now unlikely to be delivered, Boeing's net total for orders this year sank to a negative 95 airplanes. The orders included what Boeing called a "conversion" by Air Lease Corp of 15 MAX orders into five 787 Dreamliners. Turkmenistan Airlines also removed three MAX planes from the order book. Air Lease, which had 135 outstanding orders for the 737 MAX as of October, down from 150 orders in September, has said the conversion reflected greater demand from airline customers for the 787 in future years. Though several airlines have taken the MAX out of their flying schedule till March next year, Boeing on Monday indicated it expects U.S. regulators to approve the return to commercial service of the jet in the coming weeks, allowing it to possibly begin deliveries of the grounded planes next month. Click here to view the interactive graphic https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/editorcharts/BOEING-DELIVERIES/0H001QX5N8B3/index.html Boeing's orders and deliveries have lagged Airbus this year due to the prolonged grounding of its best-selling MAX jets following two fatal crashes that have killed hundreds of people. To cope with the fallout after the grounding, Boeing has slowed production to 42 MAX jets per month from 52 earlier, causing the planemaker to take billions of dollars in charges. Boeing deliveries fell nearly 50% to 321 aircraft in the 10 months through October, compared with a nearly 11% increase in Airbus' deliveries to 648 jets, during the same period. Airbus has booked 542 net orders, including a record order for 300 aircraft from India's IndiGo announced last month. Airbus wide-body orders include 12 A330neo jets sold last month to leasing giant GECAS, the aircraft leasing unit of General Electric Co , according to people familiar with the matter. The jets are powered by engines made by Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc , a GE rival.