Still Plans To Fly Actual Airplane Prior To Recertification

FAA Administrator Stephen Dickson flew a 737 MAX simulator at Boeing's facility in Renton, WA on Thursday, but did not offer any evaluation of how the updated MCAS software performed.

The Associated Press reports that Dickson, who flew 737s for Delta Airlines while he was a pilot for the carrier, completed two sessions in the sim. In the first, he practiced normal flight scenarios, while the MCAS was activated during the second session.

Following the first simulated flight, Dickson said the simulator handled "like a 737. The airplane handles very well from everything I can tell."

The FAA would not make Dickson available for comment following the flight during which the MCAS was activated.

Dickson met with several Boeing officials during the visit, but company CEO Dennis Muilenburg was not among them, according to the report.

In a telephone interview and during a recent Congressional hearing, Dickson did not give any opinion on possible changes to process the FAA uses to certify aircraft, which delegates some inspection and safety-related tasks to the manufacturers. "The concept of delegation itself is a sound one," he said Thursday. "It makes the FAA a more effective regulator, and it makes the manufacturer safer because we're able to share data in real time."

(Image from file)

FMI: Source report