Icon: enlarge
FAA boss Dickson flew for US airlines for years
Photo: PETER NICHOLLS / REUTERS
The head of the US aviation regulator FAA wants to personally convince himself of the safety of Boeing's 737 Max crisis jet.
Authority chief Steve Dickson is planning a test flight with the machine on September 30, the FAA said.
Dickson is himself a former pilot who has long flew for the United States Air Force and Delta Air Lines.
In the re-registration procedure for the Boeing jet, which has been banned from take-off for over a year and a half because of two crashes with 346 deaths, the FAA boss's "Administrator's Flight" is one of the last hurdles and of great symbolic importance.
Before the machine is approved for operation again, according to the authority, further final steps are required.
The FAA recently emphasized that there was no fixed schedule for the re-certification of the 737 Max and that the aircraft would only be allowed to operate again when all safety concerns had been resolved.
Other international supervisory authorities such as the European EASA also have a say in the matter so that the 737 Max can be used again in international air traffic.
A committee of the US House of Representatives, meanwhile, criticized both Boeing and the FAA.
The cause of the crashes was the greed of the group, but the too gullible aviation authority was also to blame, it said.
This week, the FAA, EASA and their counterparts from Canada and Brazil discussed Boeing's suggestions for pilot training before restarting.
Safety concerns also with the "Dreamliner"
The main cause of the crashes is considered to be faulty control software from the Airbus rival.
Boeing wanted to have fixed the problems long ago, but new defects were added instead.
The FAA had already completed its hot test phase for re-approval in early July.
A committee of the US House of Representatives denounced Boeing for sloppiness and cover-up.
Most recently, the FAA started investigations against Boeing because of the 787 "Dreamliner" long-haul aircraft.
The manufacturer had previously withdrawn seven aircraft of the type from service due to acute safety concerns.
They were built in 2019;
Until recently, they were still in use at Singapore Airlines, Air Canada, Etihad Airways and Norwegian.
All of them should now be examined extensively.
Icon: The mirror
fek / dpa / Reuters
