The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released a draft report on revised training procedures for Boeing 737 MAX pilots, moving the grounded jet a step further in the recertification process.
The report includes the recommendations from the Joint Operations Evaluation Board (JOEB) that was composed of the civil aviation authorities of the United States, Canada, Brazil and the European Union.
The draft training report includes protocols that should help the MAX pilots to properly respond to inputs from the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS). The protocols outline that pilots must undergo a new flight simulator training during which they must experience the conditions of MCAS failure and activation.
MCAS, which was designed to automatically push the jet nose down to stabilize it, was identified as a key factor in two Boeing 737 MAX aircraft crashes in 2018 and in 2019.
In the draft document, the FAA also states that pilots must be trained to act under the condition when horizontal stabilizer moves without a pilot command as well as familiarize the procedures of using electric and manual stabilizer trim during abnormal conditions. The protocols also include pilot training of “erroneous high angle-of-attack (AOA) malfunctions”.
The FAA will be accepting public comments to the Flight Standardization Board report until November 2, 2020. Following the comments, the authority will issue the final training recommendations for the Boeing 737 MAX pilots.