SINGAPORE, Sept 6 (NNN-CNA) — Singapore Airlines (SIA) said it has progressively flown its six Boeing 737 MAX aircraft back from storage in Australia after a suspension on operating that specific model in Singapore was lifted.
“SIA welcomes the decision by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) to lift the restrictions on Boeing 737 MAX operations,” a spokesperson said.
“SIA has progressively flown its six 737-8s (737 MAX 8) back to Singapore from Alice Springs, Australia, where they were parked in 2019.”
When asked when SIA might resume its 737 MAX flights and on which routes, the spokesperson said further details would be announced at a later date.
Singapore’s aviation authority announced on Monday that it had lifted its suspension on 737 MAX planes flying in and out of Singapore after evaluating design changes to the aircraft and its safety record over the past nine months, when the plane had “no notable safety issues”.
CAAS had grounded the 737 MAX in March 2019 after two fatal accidents involving the model. In March that year, an Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed, killing 157 people. Another accident in October 2018 involving a Lion Air plane killed 189 people.
US authorities attributed the two crashes to a key safety system on the 737 MAX called the MCAS, which was designed to counter the plane’s tendency to pitch up and lose altitude, but instead forced it into nosedives that pilots could not pull out of.
Boeing had also misled US authorities about the significance of the MCAS system and failed to mention it in pilot training and flight deck manuals, so most pilots did not even know it existed before the first crash, the investigation found.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has required new pilot training and software upgrades to MCAS, including requiring the system to get information from two sensors instead of one before being activated.
In November 2020, the FAA lifted its 20-month-old grounding order on the 737 MAX. The European Union, Canada, Australia and New Zealand have also lifted their own suspensions on the model.
SIA on Monday said it has “proactively completed” technical modifications and software upgrades to its 737 MAX aircraft, and conducted operational readiness flights in Alice Springs, in accordance to relevant FAA airworthiness standards introduced in November 2020.
In the coming weeks, SIA pilots trained to fly the 737 MAX will undergo additional training to familiarise themselves with Boeing’s changes, the flight control software, as well as any situations that they might face during the flight, the spokesperson said.
Every pilot must also complete a comprehensive training programme, which includes computer-based learning as well as simulator training.
“SIA will continue to work closely with CAAS and the relevant regulators in the coming weeks, to fulfil all of the requirements for the return of service of our 737-8 aircraft,” the spokesperson added. — NNN-CNA
