Airlines jet. That happened less than five months
after another Max flown by Indonesia’s Lion
Air plunged into the Java Sea. A total of 346
passengers and crew members on both planes
were killed.
The move by the EASA, which is based in
Cologne, Germany, comes after the U.S. Federal
Aviation Administration already cleared the
Boeing 737 Max earlier this month.
“EASA made clear from the outset that we would
conduct our own objective and independent
assessment of the 737 Max, working closely with
the FAA and Boeing, to make sure that there can
be no repeat of these tragic accidents, which
touched the lives of so many people,” said EASA
Executive Director Patrick Ky in a statement.
Investigations into the accidents revealed a
primary cause in both cases was a software
function program known as the Maneuvering
Characteristics Augmentation System or MCAS.
EASA said its probe began with a review of the
MCAS but went far beyond.
“I am confident that we have left no stone
unturned in our assessment of the aircraft with
its changed design approach,” Ky said.
“Each time when it may have appeared that
problems were resolved, we dug deeper and
asked even more questions. The result was a
thorough and comprehensive review of how
this plane flies and what it is like for a pilot to fly
the Max, giving us the assurance that it is now
safe to fly.”
EASA said one “fundamental problem” of the
MCAS, which was intended to make the aircraft
easier to handle, was that many pilots did not
even know it was there.