FAA Convenes Advisory Board To Vet 737 MAX Updates
The FAA on Tuesday announced that it has convened a Technical Advisory Board to review Boeings proposed changes to the 737 MAXs MCAS (Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System) software. The board, which does not have Boeing representation, includes the FAA, NASA, the U.S. Air Force and Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (part of the Department of Transportation).

The FAA on Tuesday announced that it has convened a Technical Advisory Board to review Boeing's proposed changes to the 737 MAX's MCAS (Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System) software. The board, which does not have Boeing representation, includes the FAA, NASA, the U.S. Air Force and Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (part of the Department of Transportation).
According to the FAA, the board's recommendations will "directly inform the FAA's decision concerning the 737 MAX fleet's safe return to service." Boeing, though previously said to be targeting a return-to-service of the 737 MAX in July, has not yet formally submitted the software updates to the FAA. Owing to domestic and international pressure, the FAA appears ready to work very carefully through any proposed changes to the MCAS control logic.
"The TAB is charged with evaluating Boeing and FAA efforts related to Boeing's software update and its integration into the 737 MAX flight control system. The TAB will identify issues where further investigation is required prior to FAA approval of the design change," according to the FAA.
Convincing the FAA that the new software will address what is broadly considered to be a causal factor in the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines accidents will be only the first stage of returning the MAX to the air worldwide. Several international aviation authorities have indicated that they will conduct their own investigations before allowing the MAX to fly in their regions. In addition, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao has appointed a special committee to review the certification process that allowed the MCAS software to be approved in its previous configuration.
Recently, Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg corrected a largely misunderstood point about the reason for MCAS in the first place; it was designed to augment stability at light weights and aft loadings and not to be a stall-prevention scheme. What's more, Southwest Airlines, the customer with the most MAX jets in the U.S., recently learned that software to show a disagreement of the two angle-of-attack sensors was not configured as was described by Boeing, and that changes to correctly depict a sensor anomaly were instituted only after the Lion Air crash late last year.
