The Boeing 737 MAX 8, a new aircraft, was involved in two serious fatal accidents resulting in the death of 346 passengers.
The first accident took place on October 29, 2018, where a Lion Air Flight took off from Jakarta, Indonesia, with 189 passengers on board, and crashed into the sea minutes after takeoff.
The second accident occurred on March 10, 2019, where an Ethiopian Air Flight took off from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with 157 passengers on board, crashing shortly after takeoff.
Following the Lion Air accident, Transport Canada (TC), in collaboration with the three Canada operators of the MAX 8 (Air Canada, WestJet and Sunwing), implemented additional mandatory training requirements for Canadian Boeing 737 MAX 8 pilots on a precautionary basis. These additional Canadian training requirements exceeded those of other countries.
Following the Ethiopian Airlines accident on March 10, 2019, TC officials took immediate action to gather evidence, assess the risks and need for action. They reached out to international partners, experts from industry and pilots who fly the aircraft and considered all available information as it became available in the days immediately following this accident. Many aviation regulators overseas grounded the plane March 12, 2019.
Early on March 13, 2019, TC experts received satellite data from Aireon, a global air traffic surveillance system company that provided indications the Ethiopian Airlines flight experienced significant flight control problems similar to the Lion Air flight. Based on this preliminary data, later the same morning, the Minister of Transport announced an immediate closure of Canadian airspace to the Boeing 737 MAX 8 on a precautionary basis. The United States (U.S.) followed Canada, grounding the Boeing 737 MAX 8 later that day.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Association (FAA), as the state of design, is responsible for certifying Boeing’s approach to fixing the identified issues that contributed to the two accidents. TC will validate any FAA certification before the aircraft can resume flights in Canada.
As part of its validation work, in April 2019 TC identified to the FAA key areas of concerns that must be addressed before the aircraft can return to service in Canada:
Acceptable levels of pilot workload;
The architecture of the flight controls;
Minimum training required for crew members; and,
Aircraft performance.
The concerns identified by TC are closely aligned with those of other aviation authorities including: the Brazilian Civil Aviation Authority (ANAC) and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).
The four major certification authorities (i.e. ANAC, EASA, FAA, and TC) have been working collaboratively towards a coordinated certification and validation of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 design changes that would allow for a globally aligned return to service of the aircraft. This includes working to establish common training requirements.
The aim of these collaborative efforts is a global return to service. However, TC has been clear with authorities, operators and the public that, if necessary for safety reasons, Canada is prepared to impose additional requirements (i.e., more robust training or procedures) than other countries, as it did after the first Boeing 737 MAX 8 crash.
TC has been at the forefront of the international collaboration with aviation safety agencies to ensure that they are well aware of the certification and analysis work that is underway and Canada’s position on this work. Many authorities have indicated that they will be reviewing TC’s validation work to assist them in deciding whether to return the aircraft to service.
TC also participated in the Joint Operational Technical Review (JATR) with the FAA, the National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) and other civil aviation authorities to conduct a comprehensive and independent technical review of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 flight control system. On October 11, 2019, the FAA published the results of the JATR review and recommendations.
The U.S National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) also released its report on September 26, 2019, following its Boeing 737 MAX 8 investigation. The report included seven recommendations that are closely aligned with the issues TC outlined in its April 2019 letter to the FAA, and continues to have.
On October 25, 2019, the Indonesian authorities released a report on the 2018 Lion Air accident, which contains 26 recommendations, including 9 directed to the FAA. Some recommendations are similar in scope to those in the NTSB and JATR reports.
TC is carefully reviewing the recommendations from the JATR, NTSB and Indonesia's reports, which generally correspond to the issues TC identified in April 2019, as it continues its work towards the return to service of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 in Canada.
TC also continues to work closely the three affected Canadian air operators (Air Canada, WestJet, Sunwing) as it works through the evaluation process to consider authorizing the Boeing 737 MAX 8 to fly again in Canadian airspace.
The Canadian validation will be based on the final package Boeing submits to the FAA and the FAA's own position on the submission, as the lead state of design. The FAA has indicated it has no timeline for this process.
TC has made it clear that it will not lift the current flight restriction of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 until it is fully satisfied through its validation process that all concerns have been addressed by Boeing and the FAA, and that adequate flight crew procedures and training requirements are in place to ensure safety.
