A Transport Canada safety official has reportedly sent an email to regulators in the US, Europe and Brazil calling for the entire removal of the MCAS system from the 737 MAX before it is allowed to take to the skies again.
The software is blamed for the two fatal 737 MAX crashes.
The email was sent to the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and Brazil’s National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) on November 19, 2019.
According to the New York Times, Jim Marko, manager of Aircraft Integration and Safety Assessment at Canada’s aviation regulator – Transport Canada wrote in the email: “The only way I see moving forward at this point is that the MCAS has to go."
According to the report, Marko says the only feasible option at this point is to remove the MCAS software altogether.
In response to the report about the email, Transport Canada issued a statement saying that the email “reflects working-level discussions between highly trained aircraft certification experts of key aviation authorities who have been given wide latitude for assessing all issues and looking at all alternatives for the safe return to service of the aircraft,” Reuters reports.
The regulator, in essence, sees Marko's email not reflecting its official position.
Boeing still remains firm in its assurance that the 737 MAX will have the jet re-certified by the end of 2019 with it returning to the skies in 2020.