US Federal Aviation Administration chief Steve Dickson says a long-awaited certification flight for the Boeing 737 MAX could take place in the next few weeks.
Dickson also told reporters in London he believed international air safety regulators were likely to agree on the design fixes needed to return the plane to service.
“On the design approval, from everything that I have seen I think we’ll have very solid alignment,” Reuters reported him as saying.
However, The FAA boss would not put a timeframe on when the plane would enter commercial service again.
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He said there were still issues with a warning light and flight deck displays but these were not expected to cause significant delays in the recertification process.
According to Reuters, the warning light issue involves an indicator light for the stabilizer trim system that incorrectly illuminated in the flight deck during testing.
The FAA boss said Boeing had yet to respond to concerns that two wiring bundles are too close and could potentially cause a short circuit.
Boeing has been reviewing the issue but has indicated its analysis may indicate there is no need for a design change.
The global 737 MAX fleet of about 370 aircraft has now been on the ground for almost a year after flight control software was implicated in two crashes that killed 346 people.
Airlines had been clamoring for its return to service but that has likely changed given the significant fall in passenger demand caused by COVID-19.
Assuming the certification flight goes smoothly, it will still take time to get the grounded planes back in the air as regulators approve pilot training requirements and they are implemented by airlines.
The grounded aircraft will also have to be prepared for a return to service after the marathon grounding.
US carriers have taken the aircraft out of their schedule until August and American Airlines says it expects to gradually phase in the MAX over a month, increasing flying throughout August and into September.
Boeing has suspended production of the MAX but it already has about 400 planes in storage it will need to update and prepare for delivery.
