FAA chief says he won’t certify the Boeing 737 Max until he flies the plane himself

CNBC ^ | 18 SEPT 2019 | Phil Le Beau

[DUMBGRUNT]

Federal Aviation Administrator Steve Dickson says he won’t allow the Boeing 737 Max jets return to the skies for service until he personally flies the plane himself.

“I’m the final sign-off authority in the U.S., and I’m not going to sign off on the aircraft until I would fly it myself,” Dickson told NBC News during an interview in Las Vegas. NBC Correspondent Tom Costello pressed Dickson, a former pilot who is licensed to fly the 737, if he will actually pilot the plane on a short flight before officially approving the Max for commercial operation. “I will fly the Max,” said Dickson.

Because Dickson is not a test pilot, he will not be in the cockpit during the Max re-certification flight. When Dickson would fly the plane has not yet been determined.

“We will work to meet the administrator’s requests and we continue to support global regulators as we work to safely return the aircraft to service,” Chaz Bickers, a spokesman for Boeing.

[DUMBGRUNT]

OK by me.

[Lurker]

It’s about damned time a Fed of any stripe put his ass where his mouth is.

L

[Track9]

I guess this is to lend credence to a report that will surely have many detractors. Statistically it’s irrelevant.

[Paladin2]

Given the future # of flights/day should it get re-certified what is just one more at/before the start?

[PGR88]

The problem is, Dickson is going to have to learn how to fly first

Sorry Boeing.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

The 737 MAX flew 8,600 times without accident. Him in the cockpit is meaningless.

[max americana]

let Sully fly it..

[Moonman62]

After one year of service, 130 MAXs had been delivered to 28 customers, logging over 41,000 flights in 118,000 hours and flying over 6.5 million passengers.

https://randy.newairplane.com/2018/05/22/737-max-a-year-of-serving-the-globe/

[JohnBrowdie]

it’s not going to fix crappy third world airlines with sh*tty pilots, shoddy maintenance practices, and miserable safety records trying to fly an advanced, brand new aircraft.

all of which were the originating causes of the ethiopian airlines and lion air crashes.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

“Minor” correction. The entire FLEET of 737 MAX in service flew 8,600 times PER WEEK. So how many total flights? A half million?

[P-Marlowe]

I don’t think the 737 Max is going to recover. It may be safe, but after killing 600 people in computer malfunctions, it is going to be the Pinto in the sky.

[CondoleezzaProtege]

The MAX plane was not advanced. It was their rushed and substituted old 737 in new overweight garb with poor engine placement because they didn’t want to pay to build a new plane.. nor give the time considering how good Airbus sales were at that moment.

The plans to build an actual innovative plane were scrubbed. And they’ve shortchanged their best engineers and outsourced both manufacturing and software mechanics to 3rd world.

[IndispensableDestiny]

The problem is, Dickson is going to have to learn how to fly first

It helps to read the excerpt, if not the article:
"Dickson, a former pilot who is licensed to fly the 737"

[Track9]

That’s what I thought. Like something Biden would say.

[bigbob]

Real funny, idiot.

Dickson recently retired from service as the senior vice president of Flight Operations for Delta Air Lines.

In this role, he was responsible for the safety and operational performance of Delta’s global flight operations, as well as pilot training, crew resources, crew scheduling, and regulatory compliance. He also flew in line operations as an A320 captain, and previously flew the B727, B737, B757, and B767 during his career. Captain Dickson is a strong advocate for commercial aviation safety and improvements to our National Airspace System, having served as chairman of several industry stakeholder groups and Federal advisory committees.

A former United States Air Force Officer and F-15 fighter pilot, Dickson is a Distinguished Graduate of the Class of 1979 at the United States Air Force Academy, as well as a graduate of the Georgia State University College of Law, magna cum laude.

[PGR88]

It helps to read the article

Because Dickson is not a test pilot, he will not be in the cockpit during the Max re-certification flight.

[DennisR]

So regardless of what PGR88 thinks, he can actually fly an airplane? /s

[PGR88]

Here’s what the excerpt said, idiot

Because Dickson is not a test pilot, he will not be in the cockpit during the Max re-certification flight.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

After having gone through al, the redesign work and safety reviews, it may now be the safest commercial airliner in the entire world.

[CondoleezzaProtege]

“it’s not going to fix crappy third world airlines with sh*tty pilots, shoddy maintenance practices, and miserable safety records trying to fly an advanced, brand new aircraft.”

You just described most major American cities and Boeing is no different in being on the decline and outsourced form beginning to finish. Again: The MAX was not a new plane, it was the old one made worse...and they scrubbed their initial plan to build an actual new model. Boeing spends millions of dollars instead on things like helping Obama build his Chicago library.

This is not the America (or the Boeing) of your parents and grandparents. Please get real.