FAA Approves Boeing Fixes for Latest 737 MAX Problem
May 13 2021 - 12:46AM
Dow Jones News
By Andrew Tangel
Boeing Co. received approval from U.S. air-safety regulators for
fixes to an electrical problem that has grounded more than 100 of
its 737 MAX jets, the company and a Federal Aviation Administration
official said, paving the way for airlines to return them to
passenger service within days.
The regulatory approval helps to end the latest embarrassing
episode for Boeing, which has been grappling with a series of
engineering and quality problems that have affected various
aircraft. It is also likely to ease frustrations among airlines
that had planned to use their 737 MAX planes as travel demand picks
up, following a sharp decline due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Once the electrical fixes are completed, the 109 affected jets,
or about a quarter of the global MAX fleet, will be able to return
to passenger service after being grounded since early April,
according to industry and FAA officials. The fixes outlined in
service bulletins to airlines are expected to take a few days per
plane to complete, Boeing executives have said.
U.S. airlines have been hoping to have their grounded MAX jets
flying again by Memorial Day weekend, in time for the busy summer
travel season, industry officials said.
Late Wednesday, a Boeing spokeswoman said the company would work
with airlines to complete the repairs while it prepares to resume
deliveries.
In early April, Boeing recommended that airlines take certain
MAX jets out of service for the coming repairs. The FAA has
mandated the fixes be made before the affected jets operated by
U.S. carriers can again fly with passengers.
The FAA, in an order issued in late April, said the electrical
issue could result in the "loss of critical functions and/or
multiple simultaneous flight deck effects, which may prevent
continued safe flight and landing."
The electrical issue emerged just five months after the FAA's
November clearance of the MAX to resume passenger service. It was
grounded for almost two years following two fatal crashes.
Regulators around the globe banned the airplane from flying
after a second crash of the jet in early 2019. Both accidents,
which claimed a total of 346 lives, were blamed on a faulty
flight-control system that sent the jets into nosedives. The
earlier grounding was focused on fixes to that system and related
training and wiring issues.
Boeing is relying on the resumption of MAX deliveries to
generate cash and reverse heavy losses caused by the earlier
grounding of the entire global MAX fleet and the pandemic-driven
travel slowdown.
The electrical issue stems from an early 2019 manufacturing
change. The shift resulted in primer being applied over drilled
holes, interrupting the electrical "grounding path" for certain
cockpit systems. Previously, Boeing workers drilled two sets of
holes. The second set would strip away the primer, allowing metal
to touch metal, providing the electrical grounding safeguard. The
Wall Street Journal previously reported that the FAA had launched
an audit to understand how Boeing made the manufacturing
change.
Write to Andrew Tangel at Andrew.Tangel@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 13, 2021 01:31 ET (05:31 GMT)
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