Chinanews client, Beijing, November 17 (Reporter Zhang Xu) After 32 months of grounding, the Boeing 737MAX's go-around in China ushered in a turnaround.

　　Recently, the Civil Aviation Administration of China issued the "Notice for Soliciting Opinions on the Airworthiness Directive of the 737MAX" (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice").

Industry insiders pointed out that the "Notice" means that the 737MAX has obtained the "examination admission ticket", but there is still a gap between "exam" and "pass".

The picture comes from the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

Two plane crashes shocked the world

　　The "Notice" pointed out that the Boeing 737-8 aircraft had two crashes in Indonesia Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines. The investigation results showed that the two accidents were caused by the fact that the Boeing 737-8 aircraft was in manual flight and the flaps were closed. The high angle of attack input repeatedly activates the MCAS, which causes the horizontal stabilizer to repeatedly lower its head and trim. Under the interference of multiple alarms, the flight crew cannot effectively identify the positioning fault and take measures, eventually causing the aircraft to lose control.

　　In October 2018, a Boeing 737-8 passenger plane of Lion Air in Indonesia crashed into the sea, killing all 189 people on board.

On March 10, 2019, a Boeing 737-8 passenger plane of Ethiopian Airlines suffered another air crash. 157 people lost their lives.

On December 9, 2020 local time, a Boeing 737 Max aircraft was preparing to land at Salgado Filho Airport in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

　　On March 11, 2019, the Civil Aviation Administration of China issued a notice requesting domestic transportation airlines to suspend the commercial operation of Boeing 737-8 aircraft.

Subsequently, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, the US Federal Aviation Administration and other agencies have successively issued similar instructions.

　　The "Notice" stated that in order to solve the above-mentioned unsafe conditions, Boeing has initiated the design changes of the flight control system software and display system software. Relevant corrective measures, such as manual revision, horizontal stabilizer trim wiring harness laying and modification, etc., have been comprehensively evaluated and confirmed that the relevant corrective measures can eliminate the above-mentioned unsafe conditions.

The deadline for comments is November 26, 2021.

Airworthiness instruction means getting the "test admission certificate"

　　What is an airworthiness directive?

A state-owned airline's driver maintenance engineer told Chinanews.com that the airworthiness directive is a modification or improvement requirement put forward by the civil aviation administrations of various countries on the aircraft itself or its operation.

If the aircraft involved in the airworthiness directive fails to meet the requirements of the airworthiness directive within the specified time, the relevant aircraft will no longer be airworthy.

　　The above-mentioned engineer explained: "The design and manufacturing unit of civil aviation products, as well as the user and maintenance unit, must ensure that the applicable airworthiness directive is correctly implemented within the specified time. The requirements of the airworthiness directive must be completed within the time limit. If an accident that affects flight safety occurs due to failure to implement or complete the airworthiness instruction on time, the organization responsible for the design, manufacture, use or maintenance of the civil aviation products involved in the airworthiness instruction is responsible."

The first "Made in China" Boeing 737 MAX full-motion flight simulator.

Photo courtesy of Ansheng Company

　　For the Boeing 737MAX's go-around, the Civil Aviation Administration of China has repeatedly emphasized the "three principles"-aircraft design modifications must be approved for airworthiness; pilots must be fully and effectively trained again; the investigation conclusions of the two accidents must be clear , And improvement measures must be effective.

　　Civil aviation expert Qi Qi believes that the release of the "Notice" indicates that the 737 MAX has basically met the above three principles and can enter the technical procedures for airworthiness certification.

　　"In other words, the 737 MAX has already obtained the'examination admission ticket' and can take the'examination' after the deadline for comments to seek formal approval for a return flight." However, even if the "exam" is passed, domestic airlines will modify the aircraft and train pilots. It also takes time.

It will take time to go around

　　The grounding of the Boeing 737MAX has brought many variables to airlines.

　　At present, 13 domestic airlines have grounded 97 737MAX aircraft.

Among them, there are 24 China Southern Airlines, 16 Air China, 11 Hainan Airlines, 11 Shanghai Airlines, 10 Xiamen Airlines, 7 Shandong Airlines, 5 Shenzhen Airlines, 3 Eastern Airlines, 3 Xiangpeng, 2 Okay, and Fuzhou Airlines 2 , Kunming Airlines 2 aircraft, 9 yuan 1 aircraft.

　　In addition, there are still a large number of 737MAX waiting to be delivered.

In October of this year, Boeing stated that of the more than 370 737MAX aircraft to be delivered, about one-third belonged to Chinese customers.

　　In November 2020, the US FAA approved the go-around of the 737MAX aircraft, and then Brazil and the European Union successively approved the go-around.

Boeing has also been seeking approval for a go-around in China.

　　This year, this effort has made some progress.

On August 7, 2021, a Boeing 737MAX7 aircraft flew from Guam to Pudong, Shanghai for testing.

The picture comes from Zhoushan Putuoshan Airport Weibo.

　　According to news from Zhoushan Putuoshan Airport, at 9:24 am on August 11, the Boeing 737MAX7 took off from Shanghai Pudong Airport for a certified test flight, and landed at Zhoushan Putuoshan Airport at 9:41. It carried out a nearly two-hour airspace and approach verification test flight. He left Zhoushan at 13:06 on August 11 and returned to Pudong, Shanghai.

This is the first time in two and a half years that Boeing 737MAX landed at Zhoushan Putuoshan Airport again.

Boeing said that the test flight was a success.

　　Boeing CEO David Calhoun stated on the company's third-quarter conference call that the Boeing 737 MAX will be approved by Chinese regulators before the end of 2021 and will resume delivery to Chinese airlines in the first quarter of 2022. At present, the company is seeking to develop close cooperation with the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

　　Qi Qi believes: "For domestic airlines, the grounding of the 737 MAX has caused an increase in costs. If it can go around, the return of the capacity brought by the 737 MAX will be beneficial to the airline’s operations, and it can also allow the Airbus A320 and other similar airlines. There are opportunities for maintenance of narrow-body aircraft. In addition, consumers can also have more choices. We believe that both the Civil Aviation Administration and the airlines will carefully decide whether to go back to the 737 MAX."

　　If the Boeing 737MAX goes around, would you choose to take it?

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