Boeing gets conditional approval for Max 7 and 10 without upgrade from Congress

Congress has approved the annual budget, with an interesting amendment for Boeing. Boeing was facing problems certifying the Max 7 and 10, due to lack of EICAS. Starting January 1, 2023 all new aircraft certified two years after enactment will be required to have either EICAS or a similar system installed for certification. EICAS is the Engine Indicating and Crew Alerting System. It alerts the crew to engine and configuration problems. Neither the Max 7 or 10 has EICAS installed, as it hasn't been installed on any of the 737s.

The Max 7 completed flight testing last year, and Boeing was hoping to complete certification by the end of the year, but the FAA informed them in September that it was unlikely to meet the deadline due to missing or late paperwork. At the time of the letter, Boeing and the FAA were going over 70% of the System Safety Assessments, but were still missing six SSAs. Fewer than 10% had been completed by the September letter.

The Max 10 certification was almost always going to push into 2023, and Boeing was pushing for an exemption to the EICAS mandate. They actually said they might have to cancel the -10 program, but with over 1,000 orders that was unlikely.

Under the budget amendment Boeing gets the extension they were after for certification of both aircraft, but has three years from the date of the Max 10 certification to modify all 737 Max aircraft, with the enhanced safety features developed for the Max 10. Those features are a synthetic enhanced AoA sensor, and the ability to shut off overspeed and stall warnings. Boeing will have to pay for the retrofit for all aircraft.

Congressional leaders reached agreement early Tuesday morning on an end-of-year government spending bill that includes an amendment to give Boeing the clearance it needs to get its 737 MAX 7 and MAX 10 jets certified without further changes.

The amendment ensures a deadline included in legislation passed in 2020 does not apply to the MAX 7 and MAX 10 models that have yet to enter service.

Absent that waiver, with the deadline passed, the Federal Aviation Administration could not certify those two planes to fly passengers without an extensive design upgrade to the systems that alert the crew when something goes wrong in flight.

www.seattletimes.com...

Standards in the aircraft industry are higher than any other industry. If all things in America were held to these standards we would truly be a world apart, not 25th on the list.