Transport Canada shows no hurry in the recertification process of Boeing 737 MAX. The authority strictly stated MAX will not be allowed to fly in Canadian skies until all safety issues have been resolved.
Currently, Transport Canada is analyzing the results of the first part of MAX tests before giving an approval of proposed changes to the aircraft. As a second part of test flights is about to start, the Minister of Canadian authority Marc Garneau claimed he still expected the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Boeing to prove that the aircraft was safe to operate.
“The Government of Canada remains committed to keeping Canadians, the travelling public, and the transportation system safe and secure,“ revealed Garneau in a press release. The Transport Minister announced that the authority continued to work extensively with the FAA and civil aviation authorities in Europe and Brazil throughout the validation process of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.
“Transport Canada will not lift the flight restrictions on the Boeing 737 MAX 8 until the department is fully satisfied that all safety concerns have been addressed by the manufacturer and the FAA, and that enhanced flight crew procedures and training are in place,” added Garneau.
Under an agreement among Boeing, European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the FAA, Transport Canada will continue the other part of its scheduled independent Boeing 737 MAX tests in Vancouver, starting on September 7, 2020, reported the Canadian Press.
Transport Canada has already completed the first part of the MAX test flight series. From August 23 to 25, the Canadian authority’s flight test crew were flown to Seattle, U.S., to conduct evaluations on the engineering simulator at the Boeing facility. Then, at the end of each test day, the crew were flown back to Vancouver. The next step of the testing process was a flight test.
As previously reported by AeroTime News, the flight test evaluations took place on August 26 and 27 in the United States airspace, using the Boeing test aircraft. The same plane was used by the Federal Aviation Administration to perform its test on June 1, 2020.
Following the Transport Canada, on 27 August, 2020, EASA relieved that Boeing still had some final issues to deal with on the aircraft, but the aircraft was ready for EASA’s flight tests needed before the European authority could approve the changes in the aircraft.
EASA will start its flight tests of the Boeing 737 MAX in early-September 2020.
