BEIJING: On Friday (Jan. 13), a Boeing 737 MAX departed from southern China. This was the first domestic trip to use this particular aircraft model since it was grounded in March 2019 following two fatal disasters.
According to flight tracking service Flightradar24, the China Southern Airlines flight departed Guangzhou in the afternoon and was en route to Zhengzhou.
Later, a second 737 MAX flight departed from Guangzhou and headed toward Wuhan, the country’s capital.
Following two fatal accidents using the model in 2018 and 2019, China suspended the aircraft.
157 persons were killed in an accident involving an Ethiopian Airlines airplane shortly after takeoff from Addis Abeba.
Five months had passed since a 737 MAX crashed in Indonesia, killing 189 people.
Investigators determined that the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, a malfunctioning flight handling device, was a significant factor in both catastrophes (MCAS).
After changes were made to the flight control software and pilot training, the aircraft was given the all-clear to fly once more in the United States in November 2020, then in other nations.
The aircraft’s return to Chinese airspace was expected by “the end of the year or early (2022),” according to China, the last significant Boeing market to declare the aircraft airworthy in December 2021.
The wait, however, took longer than anticipated because there were still some regulatory hurdles to be cleared in China.
t was longer than expected.
