FAA chief will personally fly Boeing 737 MAX test flight to allay safety fears

Steve Dickson will not sign off plane’s return until he is ‘satisfied I would put my own family on it’

A US aviation chief is to conduct a test flight with a Boeing 737 Max next week as the American plane maker works to win approval to resume flights.

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) boss Steve Dickson is set to fly the plane in a key milestone for the company. 

The Boeing 737 Max has been grounded since March 2019 after two fatal crashes killed 346 people. Mr Dickson, who was previously a commercial airline pilot, plans to undergo simulator training before the flight and will then share his observations with FAA technical staff.

It is not typical for an FAA administrator to fly an airplane before it returns to service. Mr Dickson has repeatedly said he would not sign off until he flew it himself and was “satisfied that I would put my own family on it without a second thought”.

The FAA told US lawmakers in an email on Friday that Mr Dickson and FAA deputy administrator Dan Elwell “will be in Seattle next week to take the recommended training”. The flight by Mr Dickson will fulfil “his promise to fly the aircraft before the FAA approves its return to service”.

Boeing shares were up 6.7 per cent.

The FAA and regulators from Canada, Brazil, and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency earlier this week concluded a Joint Operations Evaluation Board (JOEB) review assessing Boeing’s proposed 737 MAX training.

A draft Flight Standardisation Board report including the JOEB findings will be released for public comment in the “near future”, the FAA said, and it must still finalise a directive outlining software upgrades and other changes that all 737 MAX planes must undergo before resuming flights.

Given required time for public comments, it appears the MAX could get final FAA approval to return to service sometime in November, sources briefed on the matter said. 

Earlier on Friday, Europe’s chief aviation safety regulator said the MAX could receive regulatory approval to resume flying in November and enter service by the end of the year.

“For the first time in a year and a half, I can say there’s an end in sight to work on the MAX,” said Patrick Ky, executive director of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency.

Mr Ky said Boeing had agreed to install the computerised third-sensor system on the next version of the plane, the 230-seat 737 MAX 10, followed by retrofits on the rest of the fleet later.

Reuters