FAA’s own engineers say proposed fixes to Max aren’t enough

The union representing the FAA engineers overseeing Boeing’s redesign of the grounded 737 Max says the government’s proposed fixes to the plane don’t go far enough. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association, which represents FAA engineers who review and sign off on aircraft certification, said in comments filed on Monday that the Max should have to adhere to tougher standards on cockpit alerts. Because the plane was adapted from earlier versions, portions of its design weren’t required to meet the latest safety requirements. The union said that the proposed fixes to the jetliner are extensive and the most current regulations should apply. The comments are significant because they suggest that at least some of the FAA’s own technical staff don’t agree on the extensive proposed revisions to the plane. A whistle-blower at Boeing separately urged regulators to add additional protections to the plane. The FAA has proposed multiple changes to the aircraft following the crashes that killed 346 people before allowing it to carry passengers again. Among the changes: The system that was driving the jet’s nose down in both accidents would no longer activate repeatedly and various steps were taken to minimize the chances it would malfunction. The agency is also proposing to require extensive additional revisions to the plane, such as an improved flight-computer system to improve the system’s redundancy. Before the FAA can mandate the fixes, it must sift through the comments, which totaled more than 200 as of Monday afternoon. The deadline for comments is the end of the day.<br/>