It's being reported by Bloomberg that Indonesia may ground Boeing's 737 Max until next year - even if the aircraft is approved to fly by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Director General of Civil Aviation Polana Pramesti said in an interview that Indonesia will make its own decision after reviewing the proposed fixes.
Boeing has refused to comment on the Indonesian regulator’s decision about the Max, but a company spokesperson has reiterated that the company has completed updating the software, the associated simulator testing, and the engineering test flight.
In March, Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 302, crashed shortly after take-off on the morning of March 10 from Addis Ababa airport killing all 149 passengers and eight crew members.
Since then, a worldwide grounding of all 737 Max jets has commenced with no word on when the aircraft is set to fly again.
The House Transportation Committee recently asked acting FAA chief executive Daniel Elwell about the agency’s oversight of the Boeing 737 Max 8’s safety certification.
The hearing conducted on May 15 marked the first in a series of investigations into why there was no training for pilots – which should have been by provided by regulators or Boeing – for the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) on the 737 MAX aircraft, which is suspected in playing a critical role in the two crashes.
The 737 Max 8 has two angle of attack (AOA) disagree alerts, designed to let pilots know when two different sensors were reporting conflicting data. However, the AOA only receives data from one. If that one sensor malfunctions and feeds incorrect data, the MCAS function will pitch the nose down.
Just last week, Boeing has said its completed development of the updated software for the 737 Max, along with associated simulator testing and the company’s engineering test flight.
“Boeing has to assure us, the regulators, that the aircraft is safe," said Pramesti. "They also have to regain confidence from the pilots and the airlines, then educate the Indonesian customers.