Boeing 737 Max recertified to fly in Europe from next week
Boeing’s 737 Max will be recertified to fly in Europe next week, according to the bloc’s aviation safety watchdog, but in future US-built aircraft will be subject to closer scrutiny from the EASA. Patrick Ky, executive director of Easa, said the relationship between the European regulator and its US peer, the FAA, had changed for good after revelations of lax oversight in the development of Boeing’s newest single-aisle aircraft. Easa would now assess independently which elements were safety-critical on US aircraft and components. “We were not doing that . . . enough on US projects,”Ky said at a press conference at a joint event held by Easa and the German Aviation Press Club. “We will do that more from now. We will make our own assessment and increase our level of involvement on those systems.” The globally recognised system for aircraft certification has allowed manufacturers to self-certify certain elements of their programmes under the eye of local safety regulators. However, the FAA has come under heavy fire at home and abroad for its weak scrutiny of Boeing during the development of the 737 Max, which was grounded for almost two years after two accidents in which 346 people died. A US congressional subcommittee report into the accidents published last year found “grossly insufficient oversight by the FAA — the pernicious result of regulatory capture”. The lesson had been taken on by global regulators. “The way we are doing things, especially in the certification world, will never be completely the same,” he said. Ky said the certification of Boeing’s next new aircraft, the 777X wide-body had raised “a number of questions on the relationship between the FAA and Easa and the way we conduct our own certification projects”. The more stringent scrutiny could result in longer delays to certification, he suggested, at least while “a new way of working” bedded in. However, he insisted that since the accidents there had been “full transparency from Boeing and the FAA. We worked very well together”.<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2021-01-20/general/boeing-737-max-recertified-to-fly-in-europe-from-next-week
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Boeing 737 Max recertified to fly in Europe from next week
Boeing’s 737 Max will be recertified to fly in Europe next week, according to the bloc’s aviation safety watchdog, but in future US-built aircraft will be subject to closer scrutiny from the EASA. Patrick Ky, executive director of Easa, said the relationship between the European regulator and its US peer, the FAA, had changed for good after revelations of lax oversight in the development of Boeing’s newest single-aisle aircraft. Easa would now assess independently which elements were safety-critical on US aircraft and components. “We were not doing that . . . enough on US projects,”Ky said at a press conference at a joint event held by Easa and the German Aviation Press Club. “We will do that more from now. We will make our own assessment and increase our level of involvement on those systems.” The globally recognised system for aircraft certification has allowed manufacturers to self-certify certain elements of their programmes under the eye of local safety regulators. However, the FAA has come under heavy fire at home and abroad for its weak scrutiny of Boeing during the development of the 737 Max, which was grounded for almost two years after two accidents in which 346 people died. A US congressional subcommittee report into the accidents published last year found “grossly insufficient oversight by the FAA — the pernicious result of regulatory capture”. The lesson had been taken on by global regulators. “The way we are doing things, especially in the certification world, will never be completely the same,” he said. Ky said the certification of Boeing’s next new aircraft, the 777X wide-body had raised “a number of questions on the relationship between the FAA and Easa and the way we conduct our own certification projects”. The more stringent scrutiny could result in longer delays to certification, he suggested, at least while “a new way of working” bedded in. However, he insisted that since the accidents there had been “full transparency from Boeing and the FAA. We worked very well together”.<br/>