caught a Glimpse of a time, the end of the tunnel for the Boeing 737 MAX disappears, because the path to the return-to-service is not rectilinear. The twin-engine medium-haul american is nailed to the ground since march 13, 2019, after 2 accidents that have 346 victims. An important step had been taken at the end of June, with the certification tests in-flight by the test pilots of Boeing and the FFA (Federal Aviation Administration), the american authority which will give the green light to the return to service of the aircraft already in the sky american.
After analysis of the data recorded during these flights, the FAA issued a preliminary report describing the interventions to be carried out on the B737 before service. A period of forty-five days prior to the publication of the final document of guideline of airworthiness. The procedure provides for a consultation so that the public can provide its comments. The term “public” refers to more competitors of Boeing, the suppliers, the airlines, the experts that the passenger lambda… The FAA stated that ” the modifications proposed by Boeing to design the 737 MAX, to the procedures of flight crew and maintenance procedures effectively reduce the problems of security relating to the aircraft which contributed to the accident flight 610 (Lion Air) and the flight 302 (Ethiopian Airlines) “.
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Four major changes are requested by the american administration. There are, of course, an update of the software of flight control, the MCAS, which caused the crash of Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines. The new version has been extensively tested and validated during the certification flights. The FAA also requests that alerts can be displayed on the dashboard, for example, when a sensor is faulty. These alerts were well proposed, but paid options. Curious political mercantile when it comes to the safety of the flights.
Training on a simulator
The third point concerns the new procedures and the additional training of seafarers. It is essential, will the drivers for several days making use of e-learning on digital tablet or, a lot more expensive, sessions simulator. The financial issue of the training program is enormous in terms of wages for the drivers and the rental of simulators.
The last request is not directly a result of the crash, but relations FAA-Boeing. A detailed review of has, it seems, been passed the certification of the B737 MAX and its weaknesses. It was made to appear that the introduction of electrical cables used for the flight controls had not been carried out in the rules of art Too close to each other, they might cause interference and loss of control. This change is not trivial, because it requires time-consuming technical interventions on the thousand 737 MAX already built, still after flight tests and certification.
At the recently released financial results, the CEO of Boeing has indicated that deliveries of the aircraft are expected to resume in the fourth quarter, and not in the third quarter as expected up until then. But the date of return to service by u.s. companies remains unclear. The FAA has indicated that, for each device, a flight without passengers, should precede the rebate in commercial service. The operation of the Boeing 737 MAX elsewhere in the world remains subject to the approvals of the regulators, canadian, european, chinese, indian, etc
