FAA tells Boeing more training for 737 Max pilots may be
needed
Boeing has already reversed its long-held position that
Max pilots who were certified to fly on earlier versions of the 737 didn't need
extra simulator training.
(Bloomberg) - U.S. regulators have told Boeing Co.
that pilots may require additional training to properly respond to emergencies
on the 737 Max after airline crews failed to perform proper procedures in
simulator tests.
In a Feb. 19 letter to Boeing reviewed by Bloomberg
News, the Federal Aviation Administration detailed multiple missteps that
airline crews had made in the December simulator sessions and said additional
tests are needed. The simulations replicated failures similar to those in two
fatal crashes.
An analysis of the results by FAA and regulators in other
nations reviewing revisions to the grounded jetliner may prompt "additional
training requirements pertaining to the" aircraft, the letter said.
As a
result of the tests, Boeing had already reversed its long-held position that Max
pilots who were certified to fly on earlier versions of the 737 didn't need
extra simulator training. But the letter provides more detail about issues
raised in the sessions and is the first indication that the government is also
examining the need for more training requirements.
It is the latest
complication for Boeing's efforts to bring the 737 Max -- its best-selling jet
-- back into service almost a year after it was grounded worldwide after the
crashes. Decisions on training are important because they could delay the
plane's return and be costly for airlines.
"We have submitted an initial
recommendation regarding simulator training on the 737 Max, but we will continue
to work with airline customers and global regulators to assess and finalize the
content of the training," Boeing said in an emailed statement. "Ultimately, it
will be the regulators who determine the training requirements."
Pilots
from the three U.S. carriers that fly the Max, American Airlines Group Inc.,
United Airlines Holdings Inc. and Southwest Airlines Co., along with a crew from
Grupo Aeromexico SAB were tested in December simulations of multiple emergency
scenarios.
The tests were conducted in a simulator running Boeing's
updated flight-control system that was developed in the wake of the crashes.
While none of the crews committed such egregious mistakes that they lost their
planes, the errors were extensive, according to the FAA letter.
The
pilots, who had received additional training proposed by the company, failed to
finish emergency checklists related to the automated system involved in both 737
Max crashes, known as Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System.
In
addition, they had difficulty with emergency procedures related to sensor
failures, erroneous altitude and airspeed readings and the autopilot, among
others, according to the letter.
The tests also showed that some pilots
were confused about how the autopilot behaved in some circumstances and their
interactions with the plane's automated warning systems were
distracting.
The FAA said it had asked members of the Joint Operations
Evaluation Board -- made up of pilot-training experts from the agency as well as
Europe, Canada and Brazil -- to perform similar reviews.
The tests are
part of federal requirements that airliner systems must be relatively intuitive
and average pilots can perform the procedures necessary to respond to failures
and emergencies.
The effort is part of a multi-step process of evaluating
training requirements for the plane. The FAA is taking the lead, but regulators
such as the European Aviation Safety Agency are working with the agency and
performing their own assessments.
"The agency is following a thorough,
deliberate process to verify that all proposed modifications to the Boeing 737
Max meet the highest certification standards," the agency said in a
statement.
The FAA is working with aviation regulators in other nations
and will take as much time as it required, the agency said.
The crashes
of two 737 Max jets -- in October 2018 near the coast of Indonesia and in March
2019 in Ethiopia -- killed 346 people, led to the prolonged grounding and
prompted massive upheaval at Boeing.
Boeing is already in the process of
expanding training following its Jan. 7 announcement that it backed mandatory
simulator sessions for pilots transitioning from the popular 737 Next-Generation
models to the Max.
The planemaker originally had sold the Max as an
updated version of its 737 and so similar to earlier models that pilots only
needed a short training course on an iPad.
However, the pilots in the
simulator sessions in December had been given a revised training course and
still made multiple missteps, showing that more was needed.
Boeing's
January decision makes it almost certain that regulators in the U.S., Europe and
elsewhere will mandate simulator training, though they haven't yet made a
decision.
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