The journey towards recertification continues for the troubled Boeing 737 MAX, as Canadian and US regulators officially join forces to begin this latest round of safety tests.
As of Wednesday morning, the latest 737 MAX safety tests, undertaken in conjunction with both Boeing and Transport Canada, are officially underway.
According to Twitter users and FlightAware data, pilots and regulators from the two entities took off from the Boeing field around 8:45am local time on Wednesday, onboard one of the troubled jets.
Testing between the two entities are required to skirt around current border closures between the United States and Canada, meaning that Canadian regulators and pilots will be required to be both picked up and dropped off on the MAX aircraft between each test.
“Mitigation measures due to COVID-19 have been established for the validation activities, including flight tests to ensure the health and safety of Transport Canada employees,” said a Transport Canada spokesperson.
This latest safety test comes two months on from a previous evaluation undertaken by the US Federal Aviation Administration, which saw the federal regulator impose a number of recommended design changes to the aircraft.
The airliner is still yet to be awarded recertification, or have its global grounding of the aircraft lifted, however this next round of tests brings Boeing one step closer.
It is not expected that the 737 MAX will return to commercial use until at least 2021.
The Canadian tests serve as a part of the regulator’s “independent review” on whether to validate Boeing and the FAA’s proposed changes to the aircraft, Transport Canada said previously.
Transport Canada is also the first foreign regulator to conduct any testing activities since the aircraft was grounded in March 2019.
The aircraft was issued with a global grounding order following two fatal crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia that killed a total of 346 people.
Following rigorous testing, pilots on the aircraft will also be subject to a series of updated procedures and additional training, also deemed necessary before the plane can be classified as safe to return to the skies.
