The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has declared Boeing’s modified 737 MAX safe to fly almost two years after being grounded following two fatal accidents.
EASA’s Executive Director Patrick Ky in a statement on Wednesday said it will continue to monitor 737 MAX operations closely as the aircraft resumes service adding that, at his agency’s insistence, Boeing agreed to work to “enhance the aircraft still further in the medium term, in order to reach an even higher level of safety.”
The sign-off also marks a new chapter in the relationship between the EU regulator and its U.S. counterpart, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Investigators believe that the accidents which occurred in March 2019 were linked to flawed software that was supposed to make the airliner easier to handle but ended up making pilots lose control.
The 737 MAX was grounded in March 2019 following a crash in Ethiopia just five months after a similar disaster off the coast of Indonesia; the crashes killed 346.
Investigators believe that the accidents were linked to flawed software that was supposed to make the airliner easier to handle but ended up making pilots lose control.
