WASHINGTON—FAA does not want to be the first regulator to lift its 737 MAX operations ban and is working with other agencies to find consensus on joint approval of the model’s return to service, but the agency is prepared to act alone if the authorities cannot agree, sources with knowledge of the agency’s thinking tell Aviation Daily.
“The world thinks FAA is in Boeing’s pocket,” said one source, who requested anonymity due to the issue’s sensitivity. “FAA does not want to be first to lift the grounding.”
The problem: several regulators are pledging to conduct their own reviews of Boeing’s changes, separate from FAA’s decision. While not unprecedented between countries with bilateral agreements that allow mutual acceptance of each other’s certification approvals, the independent reviews could set up a scenario where FAA chooses between leading the way in granting approval for operations when it is convinced the MAX is safe, or stand down until it has more global consensus.
A second source with direct ties to FAA acknowledged that while the agency is seeking consensus, getting buy-in from other regulators “will not be the qualifying factor” that ends the U.S. ban on MAX operations.
Several regulators, including the EASA and Transport Canada, have said they plan to conduct their own reviews of the flight control computer changes that Boeing will propose for the MAX. Boeing has tested the changes and plans to discuss them with airlines and regulators in several meetings, including a large gathering Mar. 27 in Seattle.
Boeing appears close to a final version of the software upgrades that will significantly change how the MAX’s maneuvering characteristics augmentation system (MCAS) anti-stall flight-control law operates. FAA has seen the changes demonstrated on a 737-7, and was expecting to get a copy of the software early this week—perhaps as soon as Mar. 25. Once the software and related training are vetted by operators and regulators and meets their approvals, Boeing will issue a service bulletin so operators can begin upgrading their grounded aircraft.
But no regulator has said the upgrades and new training alone will completely satisfy their concerns with the MAX. The MAX fleet was grounded by a series of operations bans triggered by the Mar. 10 crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 (ET302), a 737 MAX 8, near Addis Ababa. It came less than five months after Lion Air Flight 610 (JT610), went down near Jakarta. MCAS is at the center of the JT610 probe, while preliminary information from the ET302 investigation suggest the system, which provides automatic nose-down inputs in certain flight profiles, may have played a role.
The software changes are seen as crucial to getting the MAX fleet back in revenue service, but FAA and others want more certainty that issues beyond MCAS are not presenting unacceptable risk to MAX operations. The U.S. participants in the Ethiopian probe, including FAA, the NTSB, and Boeing, have not been allowed to analyze ET302’s flight-data recorder data, the source with FAA ties said. Access to the critical data has been limited to what amounts to cursory reviews, meaning U.S. investigators “have not seen enough to know” what role, if any, MCAS played in the accident sequence, or to identify other possible issues, the source said.
Ethiopian Airlines President Tewolde Gebremariam told the The Wall Street Journal in a Mar. 25 interview that MCAS was activated on the Mar. 10 accident flight “to the best of our knowledge.” Gebremariam said he did not have access to the the FDR or cockpit voice recorder data, but had listed to air traffic control communications recording between controllers and the ET302’s flight crew.
The JT610 probe is focused on MCAS’s activation due to erroneous data from a single angle-of-attack (AOA) sensor that repeatedly pushed the 737 MAX 8’s nose down by adjusting its horizontal stabilizer. The flight crew countered with manual nose-up inputs via their control columns, but this only interrupted MCAS, which had the authority to apply full nose-down trim. The crew apparently did not consider the failure to be a runaway stabilizer, and did not reference the related checklist that tells pilots to de-power the stabilizer using two cutout switches. Following than 20 back-and-forth exchanges between the crew and MCAS, JT610 dove into the sea. ET302 followed a similar flight path, but investigators have not conclusively linked the two accidents.
Boeing’s changes reduce the anti-stall function’s authority, and add data from the MAX’s second AOA sensor. Pilots also will be alerted when AOA readings disagree, and MCAS will not operate if the discrepancy is above a certain threshold. Pilots also will receive specific training on MCAS—something that was not included in the original MAX flight crew training or 737NG-to-MAX differences documentation. This, along with FAA’s apparent lack of scrutiny of MCAS’s failure scenarios during certification, generated significant criticism of the agency in the weeks following the JT610 accident.
FAA, which was the last regulator to ban MAX operations, will surely be the first to approve Boeing’s changes, and accept that the MAX is again safe to operate. It could then face a decision on whether to make its airlines, which operate about 70 of the 370 MAXs in service, wait for more global consensus, or—once again—act alone.
Most U.S.-operated MAXs were on domestic routes when FAA issued its Mar. 13 grounding. This means U.S. operators could easily put them back in service even if FAA was the lone regulator to lift its ban. Operators are taking varying approaches to losing their MAXs. American, which operates 24 MAXs, has been the most publicly proactive, announcing Mar. 24 that it was removing its MAXs from its schedule through Apr. 24.
Meanwhile, the U.S Department of Transportation (DOT) will stand up a special committee to review FAA's new-aircraft certification procedures. Retired Air Force General Darren McDew, former head of the U.S. Transportation Command, and Captain Lee Moak, former President of the Air Line Pilots Association President Lee Moak will serve as interim co-chairs while the committee is formed.
"This review by leading outside experts will help determine if improvements can be made to the FAA aircraft certification process,” said DOT Secretary Elaine L. Chao.
"The [committee] will provide advice and recommendations on issues facing the aviation community related to the FAA’s safety oversight and certification programs and activities," DOT said. The group, which will be made up of industry representatives, will present its findings to senior DOT and FAA officials.
