Boeing nears Max 737 software fix as FAA review looms

Bloomberg

Boeing is working through the final steps before asking US regulators to review an update for anti-stall software linked to two fatal 737 Max accidents, an early milestone to lifting a global grounding of its best-selling jet.
But there are many steps in the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) assessment of the proposed fix, and that process could stretch well into June even if there are no complications, said a person familiar with the matter.
Boeing must also convince authorities from Beijing to Brussels that the plane is safe. Canada has already signalled it won’t follow an FAA panel’s recommendation against requiring additional simulator training for pilots.
Boeing has completed its engineering trial of the updated software, and its technical and engineering leaders were on board the final flight test earlier this week, Chief Executive Officer Dennis Muilenburg said. Up next is what he described as a “certification flight,” as Boeing prepares to submit the final paperwork to US regulators.
For that flight, Boeing will hand over the controls of a 737 Max to FAA pilots to test design enhancements that the company says ensure the system won’t ever again overwhelm flight crews — as it did in two crashes that killed a total of 346 people. The regulator will determine when the certification flight takes place.
“We’re making steady progress towards certification,” Muilenburg said, standing in front of a Max aircraft at Boeing Field, an airport south of Seattle.
Muilenburg has stepped up Boeing’s campaign to boost public confidence in the safety of the 737 Max, and the company’s airplane designs, after two of the jets crashed within five months. The Max, which debuted in May 2017, is the newest version of a single-aisle jetliner family that is Boeing’s biggest source of profit.
In all, Boeing has conducted 120 flights, spending 203 hours in the air testing the new system, Muilenburg said.