(Reuters) – Families of victims killed in two Boeing Co 737 MAX crashes want US regulators to cancel approval for planes to fly again, following a Senate report that raised concerns about the re-approval process .
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lifted its 73-month 737 MAX safety ban on November 18 after Boeing modified the green lighting project to address the issues involved in two fatal crashes in Indonesia in late 2018 and in Ethiopia in early 2019.
But a lengthy Senate Trade Committee report released Friday found that Boeing officials “improperly trained” FAA test pilots during its recertification efforts.
“The committee found illegal and potentially illegal behavior that needs to be investigated to determine whether the MAX recertification process was affected,” the families of the Ethiopian accident victims said in a Dec. 22 letter to the FAA and the Department of Transportation, which was reviewed by Reuters.
Asked for comment, the FAA said it worked closely with other international regulators to conduct a “thorough and deliberate review” of the 737 MAX.
“We are confident that the safety issues that played a role in the tragic accidents involving Lion Air 610 and Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 were addressed through the necessary design changes and approved independently by the FAA and its partners,” said a spokesman. word.
Boeing declined to comment. When the Senate report was released on December 18, Boeing said it was “taking the committee’s findings seriously and will continue to review the full report.”
“Once the first US 737 MAX flight takes place in a few days, we demand that the plane be immediately grounded based on the new revelations,” the families wrote.
A total of 346 people died in the two accidents.
American Airlines is to fly the plane on December 29 for the first time in the United States, with commercial passengers from the global landing of the plane in March 2019.
Reporting by Tracy Rucinski in Chicago Edited by Chizu Nomiyama and Lisa Shumaker