Boeing tells FAA it does not believe 737 MAX wiring
should be moved: sources
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[February 15, 2020] By
Eric M. Johnson and David Shepardson
SEATTLE/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Boeing Co <BA.N>
told the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration it does not believe it
needs to separate or move wiring bundles on its grounded 737 MAX
jetliner that regulators have warned could short circuit with
catastrophic consequences, people familiar with the matter said on
Friday.
The FAA confirmed Friday it had received a proposal from the planemaker
regarding the wiring issue.
The FAA will "rigorously evaluate Boeing's proposal to address a
recently discovered wiring issue with the 737 MAX. The manufacturer must
demonstrate compliance with all certification standards," the agency
said in a statement.
The U.S. planemaker and FAA first said in early January they were
reviewing a wiring issue that could potentially cause a short circuit on
the 737 MAX, and under certain circumstances lead to a crash if pilots
did not react in time.
A Boeing spokesman referred all questions on wiring to the FAA, saying
the agency would make the final decision and that the company is
answering questions from the FAA.
Boeing's 737 MAX was grounded worldwide last March after two crashes in
Indonesia and Ethiopia killed 346 people within five months.
Boeing has spent months updating the stall-prevention software known as
MCAS linked to both crashes, but fresh issues have surfaced,
complicating regulators' efforts to re-approve the plane.
Given intense scrutiny of the 737 MAX, Boeing is sure to face questions
about whether the MCAS system makes it harder for pilots to react in the
event of a short circuit.
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An employee walks past a Boeing 737 Max aircraft seen parked at the
Renton Municipal Airport in Renton, Washington, U.S. January 10,
2020. REUTERS/Lindsey Wasson
There are more than a dozen different locations on the 737 MAX where wiring
bundles may be too close together. Most of the locations are under the cockpit
in an electrical bay.
If the bundles pose a potential hazard, regulations would typically require
separating the bundles or adding a physical barrier.
Boeing has noted in talks with the FAA that the same wiring bundles are in the
737 NG, which has been in service since 1997 and logged 205 million flight hours
without any wiring issues.
New safety rules on wiring were adopted in the aftermath of the 1998 Swiss Air
111 crash.
A company official told Reuters last month Boeing had been working on a design
that would separate the wiring bundles, if necessary. Moving the bundles could
pose further delays to the return of the MAX, however, and Reuters reported
Thursday that a key certification test flight was not expected until April or
later.
Three U.S. airlines this week pushed back the resumption of 737 MAX flights from
June until August or later. Boeing has estimated U.S. officials would lift a
safety ban on the aircraft around mid-year.
It is unclear whether the European Union Aviation Safety Agency will demand the
MAX wiring bundles be separated. A spokeswoman for the agency on Thursday said
regulators were "waiting for additional information from Boeing."
(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle and David Shepardson in Washington;
Editing by Chris Reese and Tom Brown)
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