FAA Administrator Steve Dickson in the cockpit of the 737 Max 7 he piloted for the flight.
FAA
The head of the Federal Aviation Administration took a direct function in examining the Boeing 737 Max on Wednesday, flying the airplane on a two-hour test flight hour of Seattle. Speaking to press reporters after landing, FAA Administrator Steve Dickson revealed self-confidence in the revamped aircraft’s airworthiness.
“I liked what I saw,” he stated. “I felt that the training prepared me to be very comfortable with the plane.”
The 737 Max has actually been grounded considering that March 2019 after 2 crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia eliminated 346 individuals. A previous industrial pilot, Dickson stated his flight today is different from the FAA’s main recertification procedure, which is still underway.
Dickson stated he utilized the time to experience appropriate emergency situations that may happen associated to the MCAS flight control system blamed for both crashes. Over the last 18 months, Boeing has actually made modifications to MCAS and has actually broadened pilots’ training to consist of simulator time prior to they can fly the aircraft.
“I made a promise I would fly the 737 Max and that I wouldn’t sign off on its return until I was comfortable putting my family on it,” he stated. “It was important to experience the training and the handling of the aircraft.”
Though he would not dedicate to an end date for the recertification procedure — the FAA has actually launched a list of modifications it states Boeing need to make to the Max prior to it can go back to service — Dickson stated the procedure remains in the house stretch. Boeing will likewise require approval from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency and Transport Canada, which are performing their own tests.
The FAA has actually come under fire considering that the crashes for not being rigid enough in the Max’s initial accreditation procedure in 2017. Though an independent panel established by the Department of Transportation (the FAA is a department of the DOT) in January discovered no substantial issues with how the Max was cleared to fly, last month a House Transportation Committee query determined a “fundamentally flawed” regulative system.
During journalism conference, Dickson looked for to lighten worries that the FAA is not being strenuous this time around.
“The FAA continues to take a thorough and deliberate approach in our review of Boeing’s proposed changes to the 737 Max, he said. “The FAA will not authorize the aircraft to go back to guest service up until I’m pleased that we have actually effectively attended to all of the recognized security problems.”
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Boeing CEO: 737 Max soon to be one of the safest planes
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