News:
EASA today published its proposed airworthiness directive to return the 737 MAX to service that is similar to the one published by the FAA. This means that the European and US versions of the airplane will have no technical differences. It was initially expected that EASA might include Synthetic Airspeed in its requirements, a system that utilizes multiple instruments and readings to properly compute speed and angle of attack if a sensor fails, but the European regulator failed to move farther than the FAA, disappointing many observers.
EASA did institute two requirements that differ from the FAA. The first is a circuit breaker cap that allows for an easier disconnect of the circuit breaker controlling the stick shaker, which can be an annoyance disturbance for pilots when a sensor fails. The second is a prohibition of Required Navigation Performance-Authorization Required (RNP-AP) approaches using the autopilot. Those approaches are precision curved pathways between waypoints in which descent and positioning are constantly augmented by satellite-based navigation signals. EASA included this provision to eliminate an identified risk after a single failure of an AOA sensor during some RNP-AP approaches.
EASA today published its proposed airworthiness directive to return the 737 MAX to service that is similar to the one published by the FAA. This means that the European and US versions of the airplane will have no technical differences. It was initially expected that EASA might include Synthetic Airspeed in its requirements, a system that utilizes multiple instruments and readings to properly compute speed and angle of attack if a sensor fails, but the European regulator failed to move farther than the FAA, disappointing many observers.
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