BA Boeing Co

By Doug Cameron 

Boeing Co. said Tuesday that it backed 737 MAX pilots training in flight simulators before the jet returns to commercial service, reversing its previous stance that only computer-based training would suffice.

Regulators in the U.S. and overseas will make the final decision and have already been considering mandatory simulator training for pilots, a move that would push back further the timetable for any resumption of flying.

Greg Smith, Boeing's interim chief executive, said in a statement that combining simulator time and computer-based training would help build confidence among the flying public, airlines and other stakeholders.

Boeing had previously said it expected some airlines to opt for simulator training, but viewed computer-based education as providing the necessary information for pilots on updated flight control systems and procedures.

Boeing had long maintained 737 MAX pilots don't need supplemental simulator training beyond what pilots receive to fly other 737 models, a stance that many Federal Aviation Administration officials now regard with increasing skepticism, The Wall Street Journal reported this week.

The FAA's changed outlook on simulator training has arisen partly because Boeing and regulators are proposing rewriting some emergency checklists for pilots and creating some new ones, according to some of these officials.

In addition, one of these officials said, the FAA expects certain cockpit alert lights to be updated so they can notify crews of potential problems with an automated stall-prevention feature called MCAS. Misfires of that system led to two fatal MAX nosedives in less than five months, taking 346 lives and resulting in global grounding of the planes in March.

Write to Doug Cameron at doug.cameron@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 07, 2020 14:45 ET (19:45 GMT)

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