Boeing 737 Max airplanes sit parked at the Renton Municipal Airport near Boeing’s factory in Renton, Wash. on July 21, 2019. Canadian officials say they are working closely with Boeing and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on the modifications to the 737 Max.
Transport Canada to independently assess the changes to the Boeing 737 Max
The agency insists it will be doing its own independent validation of Boeing’s proposed changes to the troubled 737 Max jet meant to fix design problems suspected in two fatal crashes.
Boeing 737 Max airplanes sit parked at the Renton Municipal Airport near Boeing’s factory in Renton, Wash. on July 21, 2019. Canadian officials say they are working closely with Boeing and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on the modifications to the 737 Max.
OTTAWA—Transport Canada insists it will be doing its own independent validation of Boeing’s proposed changes to the troubled 737 Max jet meant to fix design problems suspected in two fatal crashes.
While Canadian officials say they are working closely with Boeing and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on the modifications, they are making clear that their own concerns must be addressed before the jet is cleared to fly again in Canada.
“We have our own list of requirements that we sent to the FAA at the onset of this, of areas we will be looking at validating the work of the FAA and Boeing prior to us issuing our own validation approval,” said Nicholas Robinson, Transport Canada’s director general of civil aviation.
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Those areas touch on the workings of the jet’s manoeuvring characteristics augmentation system (MCAS) — the system suspected in the two crashes — as well as human factors issues and pilot training.
Given concerns that the FAA’s initial certification of the jet may have missed the design shortcomings, aviation regulators around the globe are now signalling they won’t be content to simply follow the lead of the FAA, which is responsible for certifying the fixes proposed by Boeing.
The added scrutiny by regulators is sparking concern that the Boeing 737 Max will be cleared to resume flights in a patchwork fashion — okayed to fly in some jurisdictions but not others.
However, Robinson said that Transport Canada’s ongoing work with the FAA and Boeing, including multiple visits to Seattle, where the 737 is built, means that Canadian officials should be “quite familiar” with Boeing’s submission, when it happens.
“Our hope is that all our questions or concerns have been addressed as well so the validation efforts are quite streamlined,” he said.
Boeing 737 Max jets were grounded in Canada and around the globe in March following crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia five months apart that killed a total of 346 passengers and crew.
The investigations have focused on a piece of software introduced on the Max because of design changes that altered its flying characteristics from earlier 737 models.
That software, known as the manoeuvring characteristics augmentation system, automatically pushes the jet’s nose down if it detects the risk of an aerodynamic stall. But it’s suspected that erroneous air data caused the system to needlessly trim the nose down in both accidents, putting the jets in a steep descent.
Air Canada, WestJet and Sunwing all operated the Max jets before the March grounding. Air Canada and WestJet have removed the jet from their schedules until early January.
A key milestone to getting the jets back in service is expected in the coming weeks. That’s when Boeing submits to the FAA the proposed software update to fix the MCAS shortfalls as well as updated training materials for the pilots who fly the Max jet.
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