The head of the Federal Aviation Administration said a software issue would delay certification. boeing That comes as officials assess whether the 737 Max 10 poses safety issues, a potential setback for manufacturers seeking to complete government approval for the best-selling family of aircraft.
Boeing Co. expected to get the green light from regulators “soon” for the plane, which is several years behind schedule, CEO Kelly Ortberg told investors earlier this month. But Boeing announced Saturday that last month it reported a software glitch in some 737 Max planes that could affect certain landing procedures.
“The jury is still out on whether this is a flight safety issue, but we are going to postpone the 10-day deadline until we are satisfied there is no issue,” FAA Administrator Brian Bedford said Monday at an air traffic modernization press conference in Washington, D.C.
“Safety will drive the certification timeline,” the FAA said in a statement. The agency added: “We are investigating this software flaw in accordance with our safety review process and will not hesitate to take action if necessary.”
Boeing shares extended initial losses following Bedford’s comments, falling nearly 7% on Monday as investors assessed further delays after years of setbacks for the aircraft.
“We continue to follow the FAA’s lead as we move forward with the certification process,” Boeing said in a statement.
Boeing said over the weekend that problems with the vertical navigation system can occur if the plane misses an approach and has to turn and line up to land, for example if there is an obstruction on the runway. Both the company and Bedford said their pilots are trained for such situations.
“Pilots remain in control of the airliner and are training for these scenarios,” Bedford said Monday. “The issue we’re looking at right now is the workload component.”
The FAA certified the smallest of the family, the Max 7, last month. These aircraft are equipped with the latest version of the software, which is currently being evaluated by the FAA. It’s not clear how that might affect deliveries of these planes to customers such as: southwest airlines.
The U.S. airline said there are no Max aircraft with this problem, in part because these models are allowed to revert to older software if necessary, rather than newer versions where the potential problem exists.
Bedford said Boeing fixed previous bugs in the system, but “unexpectedly…new bugs were introduced.”
Boeing is trying to recover from years of safety crises, including two Max 8 crashes in 2018 and 2019. These accidents involved flight control systems.
Bedford added Monday that unlike that system, this “doesn’t take control away from the pilot.”
The company originally planned to begin delivering the Max 10 in 2020 before the planes were delayed due to safety concerns and other issues. This is the last product in the Max family awaiting certification.
