Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Chief Steve Dickson conducted a nearly two-hour evaluation flight at the controls of a Boeing 737 MAX on Wednesday, a milestone for the jet to win approval to resume flying after two fatal crashes, Reuters reported.
See also: The GE9X, the engine that powers the Boeing 777X, is certified by the FAA.
Dickson, a former military and commercial pilot, and other FAA and Boeing pilots landed shortly before 11 a.m. local time (1800 GMT) at King County International Airport – also known as Boeing Field – in the Seattle area.
“I like what I saw on the flight,” Dickson told a news conference afterwards, but said he was not ready to give the jet a clean bill of health, with FAA reviews still ongoing.
See also: Boeing brings a hand lamp into production to disinfect its aircraft.
“We are not to the point yet where we have completed the process,” Dickson said.
If Dickson’s flight and broader reviews go well, the FAA is seen as likely to lift its U.S. grounding order in November, sources said on Wednesday, putting the MAX on a path to resume commercial service potentially before year-end.
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