WASHINGTON, Oct 1 (Reuters) – The US Federal Aviation Administration is set to convene a safety review on Friday of a software issue that could prevent pilots of Boeing 737 MAX airplanes from accessing automated flight guidance during one landing scenario.
The FAA is scheduled to convene a Corrective Action Review Board to review the issue. Airline officials told Reuters they do not believe the board will determine the issue poses a safety concern. The FAA said this week it was delaying certification of the 737 MAX 10 until it completed its analysis.
On Wednesday, airline officials took part in a meeting with Boeing on the issue. They said they did not believe the board will find a safety issue.
If the board clears the plane, officials said the MAX 10 could be certified later this month.
Boeing did not immediately comment.
On Wednesday, US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he did not currently see any safety concern stemming from the software issue. He added the agency saw no need to ground the 737 MAX fleet over the issue.
On Saturday, Boeing said it had informed operators and was developing a software update to permanently address the problem. It could also propose additional training for pilots, it said.
On Wednesday, Duffy compared the issue to an update on a smartphone, adding that the software update “hasn’t been flagged for us as a safety issue.”
Earlier, the FAA said the software version can increase pilot workload when doing a go-around, where a pilot aborts a landing attempt, applies power, and climbs back into the sky to try to land again.
Timing of the FAA board meeting was reported earlier by Bloomberg.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and David Gregorio)
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