TOO LATE?

Report: FAA Had Early Version of Boeing 737 Max Software Update Before Ethiopia Crash

The FAA was reportedly running tests on the software throughout February and March.

The Federal Aviation Administration had an early version of Boeing’s software update to fix issues in its 737 Max planes in January, weeks before a 737 Max 8 crashed in Ethiopia in early March and killed 157 people, The Seattle Times reports. Acting Federal Aviation Administration chief Daniel Elwell will tell a Senate committee on Wednesday that Boeing submitted a proposed software update for the plane on Jan. 21 “to the FAA for certification,” according to prepared remarks cited by the Times. The update would reportedly fix the flaw in the plane’s flight-control system that is thought to be a factor in both the Ethiopia crash and a crash in Indonesia late last year that killed 189 people. Elwell will reportedly tell the committee the update has since gone through rigorous testing. FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford told the newspaper that testing was done “with prototypes and early versions” of the update. A Boeing official also told the Times that testing was conducted on the software update throughout February and March, and they expect to submit the final version of the update at the end of this week.

BIG SQUEEZE

Boeing’s Next Jet Has Safety Concerns, but FAA Says It’s OK

Clive Irving