FAA invites other nations to discuss work on 737 Max jet

Bloomberg

US aviation regulators are calling for a meeting with their counterparts from about 50 other countries to discuss progress on returning Boeing Co’s grounded 737 Max to service as some nations have begun saying they will perform independent assessments of the plane.
The Federal Aviation Administration sent a letter to regulators around the world asking them to an “informal briefing” in Montreal. Boeing is in the process of redesigning the 737 Max to fix a design flaw that caused it to dive automatically.
The FAA and other nations must approve the changes before it can fly again.
“The success of the global aviation system rests squarely on a shared commitment to safety and a common understanding of what it takes to achieve it,” according to the letter.
“The FAA is committed to keeping communication channels open and providing useful information as you make your individual decisions on safely returning your fleets to service.”
The meeting will be the first time that FAA Administrator Steve Dickson, who took office last month, has had a chance to interact directly on the matter with the other regulators. The agency hosted a similar discussion last May in Texas.
A person familiar with the meeting said that it was a routine attempt to keep other countries up to date on the FAA’s work. The person wasn’t authorized to discuss the issue and asked not to be named.
In recent weeks, other regulators have indicated they may be moving more cautiously than the FAA on returning the plane to service. The European Aviation Safety Agency, for example, said in a presentation this month that it is looking at broader design changes and wouldn’t simply accept the FAA’s analysis.
Crashes of the 737 Max off the coast of Indonesia and in Ethiopia killed a total of 346 people after similar malfunctions prompted the planes to automatically dive. Boeing has said it hopes the plane can resume operations in the fourth quarter.

Boeing CEO asked to testify before House Panel on Max
Bloomberg

The chairman of the House committee overseeing aviation invited Boeing Chairman Dennis Muilenburg and the company’s chief engineer of commercial aircraft to testify before a hearing in Washington.
The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will be holding the hearing on October 30 on the 737 Max, the company’s best-selling model that’s been grounded worldwide since March 13 following its second fatal crash. The hearing is one day after the one-year anniversary of the first 737 Max crash, off the coast of Indonesia. Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio, an Oregon Democrat, invited Muilenburg and John Hamilton, the chief engineer, to appear at the hearing, the committee said.
“Boeing has received the committee’s invitation and is reviewing it now,” the company said.