Pilots and test crew members of the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Boeing are expected to begin retraining flights for 29 MAX on Monday, June 2020, 737.
After several hours of preflight information, the crew will board a 737 MAX 7 equipped with test equipment. It will fly from Boeing Field, near Seattle.
Boeing 737 MAX returns to flight
Different scenarios will be implemented with different approaches. The pilots will also intentionally trigger the reprogrammed MCAS software, which contributed decisively to both accidents involving 737 MAX aircraft.
The tests are intended to verify the functionality of the MCAS and whether they are sufficiently well defined to prevent accidents. It will also be tested the situation in which the pilots will want to take control of the plane from MCAS, a maneuver that could not be performed in the case of the 2 plane crashes. MCAS is the acronym for Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System.
Prior to these recertification flights, numerous preparations were made in the simulator, but also on the ground on the same Boeing 737 MAX 7, without FAA representatives on board.
After these special flights, FAA officials will review all data and documents to assess the invigilability and maneuverability of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.
After analyzing the data, Steve Dickson, the FAA administrator and former F-15 pilot, will board the Boefing 737 MAX to make his own assessments. Steve Dickson promised that the 737 MAX would not be approved until he tested it personally.
If all goes according to plan, the Boeing 737 MAX would receive recertification sometime in September, and by the end of the year could return to commercial flights in the United States.
Regulators in Europe and Canada will work with the FAA to recertify and approve the 737 MAX family of aircraft. And it is possible that the 737 MAX will be subject to further evaluation.