FAA hopes global regulators simultaneously approve Boeing 737 MAX to fly again

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The US Federal Aviation Administration hopes civil aviation authorities around the world will decide at about the same time to allow the Boeing 737 MAX to continue flying, the agency told Congress Tuesday in a letter seen by Reuters.

The FAA and other regulators founded the aircraft in March after two fatalities in five months killed 346 people.

Acting FAA Administrator Dan Elwell, in letters to Senators Susan Collins and Jack Reed, said the agency "hopes to gain close simultaneous approval from major civil aviation authorities around the world" but added that each regulator will make its own determination .

"We are working with our colleagues from the EU, Canada and Brazil to address their concerns," he wrote.

Collins will chair a Senate appropriations committee during the hearing Wednesday that will feature four senior FAA officials, including Ali Bahrami, who oversees a viation safety.

<p class = "canvas atom canvas text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Boeing Co Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg told analysts last week he was confident the MAX would be back in service as early as October after a certification flight in "the September time frame." [nL4N24P2WJ] "data-reactid =" 28 "> Boeing Co. Managing Director CEO Dennis Muilenburg told analysts last week that he was confident that MAX would be back in service as early as October after a certification flight in the "September frame." [nL4N24P2WJ]

<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Ryan Air Chief Executive Michael O'Leary said Monday that he had been told that flight would be delayed until October. Boeing on Tuesday reiterated Muilenburg's recent comments. [nL8N24U36O] "data-reactid =" 29 "> Ryan Air CEO Michael O & # 39 Leary said Monday that he had been told the plane would be delayed until October. Boeing on Tuesday reiterated Muilenburg's recent comments. [nL8N24U36O]

Elwell said in his letter FAA "will lift the 737 MAX grounding order only when it is safe to do so."

MAX's return has been delayed as Chicago-based Boeing works to gain approval for reprogrammed stall prevention software and associated training materials.

At the end of June, the FAA said it had identified a new risk when an agency pilot ran a flight simulator test that attempted to activate the so-called MCAS stall prevention system. [nL2N23X1L8]

Boeing has said that it is working on a solution to solve the problem.

The FAA Technical Council, comprised of experts not involved in the original 737 MAX certification, is also considering MCAS software update and training requirements.

The European Aviation Safety Agency sent the FAA and Boeing a list of concerns it wished to address before MAX re-entered service, say people familiar with the matter. [nL2N24Q14D]

Since the crashes, federal prosecutors, the Department of Transportation's inspector general, Congress and several blue-ribbon panels have investigated how the FAA certifies new aircraft and its long-standing practice of delegating certification tasks to aircraft manufacturers.

Elwell noted in his letter that on March 5 he created a new aviation security organization's office for delegation of authority. This office is in the process of selecting personnel and developing procedures "to carry out this important mission. No significant changes have been made to the existing (delegation) program as a result of setting up this office."

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)