The Federal Aviation Administration has invited international regulators to Washington for a meeting on the issues facing the Boeing 737 MAX, which suffered two deadly crashes in recent months, an agency spokesman said Thursday. The forum, scheduled for May 23, aims to outline for civilian aviation regulators the US agency’s process for returning the 737 MAX to service after the aircraft was grounded worldwide in mid-March following crashes by Ethiopian Airlines and October Lion Air that together claimed 346 lives.
The gathering comes as the FAA faces scrutiny over its oversight and greenlighting of the aircraft’s design and manufacture. The session will “discuss the agency’s activities toward ensuring the safe return of Boeing 737 MAX to service,” an FAA spokesman said in an email to AFP. The agency will provide participants with the “safety analysis that will inform its decision to return the 737 MAX fleet to service in the US when it is made,” the spokesman said.
