FAA Proposes Simulator Training for Max Pilots Boeing Resisted

(Bloomberg) -- Proposed new pilot-training requirements for Boeing Co.'s grounded 737 Max -- one of the final hurdles needed before the plane can return to the skies -- includes simulator training that the planemaker once sought to avoid.

The training would require that flight crews are trained and tested on the fixes to the plane, including changes to the automated system implicated in two crashes and a redesigned flight-control computer, the report posted by the Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday said. The plan could be altered as the agency considers comments from pilots, airline unions and the public.

The package is the latest milestone toward the plane's return after a grounding that is nearing 19 months. The FAA is also finalizing a package of physical changes to the plane to improve its safety.

The training proposal formally upends what had been a critical marketing tool for the 737 Max: Boeing's initial insistence that simulator sessions weren't needed for pilots transitioning to the plane from its popular predecessor models.

Boeing in January reversed course and endorsed simulator training in the face of a lengthening grounding and widespread criticism, making the FAA finding all but inevitable.

Boeing's top-selling plane has been grounded since the second fatal crash linked to a flight-control system that went haywire. A total of 346 people were killed in crashes off the coast of Indonesia and in Ethiopia.

Before flying a Max, pilots must practice in a flight simulator how to respond to an activation of the feature known as Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, the proposal said. MCAS malfunctioned and helped lead pilots to lose control in both crashes.

They must also conduct exercises on other factors involved in the crashes, such as preventing the plane from diving aggressively and diagnosing cockpit failures.

Comments on the FAA training proposal are due to the agency by Nov. 2.

The FAA, as part of a group that helps set international standards for pilot training, has already been conducting tests of the training program. Those tests went well, according to the head of the European Aviation Safety Agency.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.