The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a draft report on revised training procedures for the Boeing 737 MAX, a key milestone to the plane’s eventual return to service.
The FAA said the draft Flight Standardisation Board report would be open for public comment to November 2 before the procedures are finalised. The proposal adds new training requirements to deal with a key safety system called MCAS tied to two fatal crashes that killed 346 people and led to the plane’s grounding in March 2019.
MCAS, designed to help counter a MAX tendency to pitch up, could be activated after data from only a single Angle of Attack (AOA) sensor.
Faulty data that erroneously triggered MCAS to repeatedly activate played critical roles in fatal 737 MAX crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia, a US House report last month said.
The FAA requires new safeguards to MCAS, including it receives data from two sensors, before it allows the 737 MAX to return to service.
Pilots must undergo new simulator training before they can resume flights, including on multiple flight deck alerts during unusual conditions along with how to respond to a runaway stabiliser with timely pilot actions required.
Pilots must be trained for erroneous, high AOA malfunctions.
The FAA must finalise the software upgrade requirements and other changes to the 737 MAX before it can issue an “ungrounding” order, expected in November. That could allow the MAX to resume commercial flights before the end of 2020.
