New 737 Max issue affects nearly two dozen airlines, 106 jets: FAA

The US FAA has disclosed new details about an electric problem that forced the grounding of more than 100 recently-produced Boeing 737 Max. Though the issue primarily affects jets delivered by Boeing after the FAA lifted the grounding in November 2020, several Max delivered before the grounding are also affected, according to the agency. Regulators globally grounded the Max in mid-March 2019.The issue involves “potential degradation of bonds associated with electrical grounding of equipment that could affect the operation of certain systems”, says the FAA in a 22 April “Continued Airworthiness Notification to the International Community”. Potentially affected Max systems include standby power control units, “P6” circuit breaker panels and main instrument panels, it adds. Boeing notified the FAA about the concern, which it discovered “after electrical power systems did not perform as expected during the testing of a newly manufactured Model 737-8 airplane,” says the FAA’s notice. Boeing publicly disclosed the problem on 9 April but did not specify how many aircraft were affected. Boeing recommended airlines pull affected jets from service.<br/>