As the world watches, Boeing is busily working to complete a software upgrade for its 737 MAX 8 aircraft designed to address issues linked to two fatal crashes involving the plane over the past five months.
A new report from Bloomberg says the company needs more time to finalize the changes.
The planemaker had originally said it would submit final paperwork for airlines/boeing-737-max-8-software-upgrade-ready-for-review.html” target=”_self” rel=”nofollow noopener noreferrer”>the software revamp to the Federal Aviation Administration by March 29.
However, that deadline has since passed, and Boeing’s most recent statement is that the updates will be ready in the “coming weeks.”
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Company engineers are working on updating a stall-prevention system. The goal of the changes is to make the system, called MCAS, less aggressive in pushing down the airlines/is-the-boeing-737-max-the-next-de-havilland-comet.html” target=”_self” rel=”nofollow noopener noreferrer”>Boeing 737 MAX 8’s nose while also including some redundancy to make it less likely to activate when there are malfunctions in the plane’s other systems.
The delay in finalizing the updates is tied to an issue that apparently arose as Boeing was conducting a final audit, according to Bloomberg. The company is working to ensure that MCAS will operate as desired without interfering with the MAX’s existing flight controls.
“We are working to demonstrate that we have identified and appropriately addressed all certification requirements and will be submitting for FAA review once completed in the coming weeks,” Boeing said in an email Monday, according to Bloomberg. “Safety is our first priority, and we will take a thorough and methodical approach to the development and testing of the update to ensure we take the time to get it right.”
The FAA has said the changes to the MAX will undergo rigorous review.
“The FAA expects to receive Boeing’s final package of its software enhancement over the coming weeks for FAA approval,” the government agency stated. “Time is needed for additional work by Boeing as the result of an ongoing review of the 737 Max Flight Control System to ensure that Boeing has identified and appropriately addressed all pertinent issues.”
The FAA also said it will “not approve the software for installation until the FAA is satisfied with the submission.”
Regulators in Canada, Europe, China and beyond must also review the new software for the Boeing 737 MAX.
All Boeing 737 MAX aircraft were grounded in March, on the heels of a second fatal crash involving the new plane model from Boeing.
The first crash occurred on Oct. 29 off the coast of Indonesia. The second on March 10 in Ethiopia. A combined 346 people were killed in the two incidents.
