New York (AFP)
The boss of the US aviation agency took control of a Boeing 737 MAX on Wednesday for an evaluation flight with which he was satisfied, which is a new step towards the return to service of the device grounded for a year and a half.
"I enjoyed what I saw this morning," said Steve Dickson, a former pilot, at an online press conference just after his nearly two-hour hike in the air near Seattle.
But, he immediately added, "we are not yet at the end of the process" of re-certification of the device.
Mr Dickson had previously taken the new 737 Max pilot training course recommended by a recent panel of representatives from various aviation regulatory agencies meeting in London, first online and then in a simulator.
“It has been a productive and constructive week,” he said.
The 737 MAX has been banned from flying around the world since March 2019 after two accidents that killed 346 in Indonesia and Ethiopia five months apart.
The authorities demanded that Boeing make several modifications to elements incriminated in the crashes, including the MCAS anti-stall software.
"Shortly after I took over as head of the FAA, I promised that I would try the 737 max myself and not give the go-ahead until I was comfortable with the idea. to fly my family there, ”Dickson recalled Wednesday.
"It was important to experience the training and taking the device for myself to fully understand," he noted.
There are several steps left before the authorities officially grant their technical green light to the 737 MAX.
Companies will then have to make the requested changes to the devices they use and provide the required training.
Mr. Dickson declined to move forward on the timetable, only pointing out that the FFA was working closely with its counterparts in Europe, Canada or Brazil "to reach consensus" on the issues raised by each of them. between them.
The head of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), Patrick Ky, recently said he could give his technical green light "in November", which could lead to a return to service of the 737 MAX "of here the end of the year ".
© 2020 AFP