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1 1 (December 07, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govddak0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional Research Servik Boeing 737 Max to Fly Again, Clouded by Certification Concerns December 7, 2020 On November 18, 2020, the FederalAviation Administration (FAA) issued an order rescinding its March 2019 order that had grounded the Boeing 737 Max passenger jet for nearly 20 months. Congress continues to debate legislation (FIR. 8408, S. 3969, and S. 3866) seeking to reform aircraft certification in an effort to avoid future safety stand-downs of this magnitude involving the design of highly complex transport aircraft. Two high-profile fatal accidents, the crash of Lion Air flight 610 in October 2018 and the crash of Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 in March 2019, prompted the unprecedented worldwide grounding of the 737 Max as investigators and engineers sought to identify and remedy a common set of causes. Both accidents were linked to an automated flight control system feature called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS). The design of the 737 Max included larger engines than earlier versions of the 737. Under certain circumstances, these engines could cause an unintended pitch up of the airplane's nose. MCAS was installed to automatically compensate for this undesirable tendency. In both accidents, MCAS activated repeatedly, resulting in extreme nose-down pitching. Analysis after the accidents revealed that MCAS relied on a single sensor that was reportedly prone to damage, and that the aircraft lacked safeguards to prevent its activation if that single sensor failed. The two crashed airplanes had no cockpit indicators to notify pilots of a possible sensor failure, and Boeing had not advised airlines to train pilots about the existence and functioning of MCAS or proper procedures to override or disable it if necessary. Design Certification Probed The crashes triggered a number of investigations and reviews of FAA's procedures forcertifying the safety of the 737 Max in particular and of passenger aircraft more broadly. FAAjoined with aviation authorities from other countries and the European Union to complete a comprehensive technicalreview of the Boeing 737 Max flight control system design and certification. The Department of Transportation independently convened a special committee to review the certification of the Boeing 737 Max, which urged FAA to require aircraft manufacturers to implement Safety Management Systems (SMS) like those already required of airlines. While FAA initiated rulemaking back in 2014 to comply with international Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov IN11552 CRS NSIGHT Prepared for Membersand Commi ----es o Cong rss----------------------------------

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