Boeing 737 MAX airplanes parked on the tarmac at the Boeing Factory in Renton. The planes have been grounded for more than two years. Reuters
Boeing 737 MAX airplanes parked on the tarmac at the Boeing Factory in Renton. The planes have been grounded for more than two years. Reuters
Boeing 737 MAX airplanes parked on the tarmac at the Boeing Factory in Renton. The planes have been grounded for more than two years. Reuters
Boeing 737 MAX airplanes parked on the tarmac at the Boeing Factory in Renton. The planes have been grounded for more than two years. Reuters

Boeing 737 Max heads for China to end flight ban


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A Boeing 737 Max jet departed for China to conduct a flight test for regulators, sources said, in a step towards reviving the plane model after two fatal crashes forced grounding for more than two years.

The 737-7 took off from Seattle’s Boeing Field at around 8am local time, and initially bound for John Rodgers Field outside Honolulu, according to FlightRadar24, a flight-tracking site. Boeing declined to comment on the flight or activity in China. It had confirmed a Max 10 plane taking off from Renton Field in Washington to the Seattle base of Boeing on June 19.

“Boeing continues to work with global regulators as they complete their validation processes in order to better understand enhancements to the airplane,” the company said in an emailed statement.

Boeing’s shares recovered from a morning slump after news of the flight broke, rising as much as 1.4 per cent. Boeing had climbed seven per cent this year through Tuesday, about half the gain of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

The Hawaii flight is the first leg of a trip across the Pacific, sources said. With the Max also barred from Russian airspace, the narrow-body plane will travel near the equator to China rather than take the shorter northern crossing that is typically flown by commercial aircraft.

While the Max’s validation flight in China would be a milestone, the regulators still could take months to wrap up their work before allowing the plane to resume commercial service. Boeing sent a delegation of around 35 pilots and engineers to the nation last month to meet with regulators and prepare for simulator and flight testing.

US Federal Aviation Administration's technical officials have just completed a quarantine in China – required due to the Covid-19 pandemic – and are expected to participate in the test programme, a source said.

The FAA is the government agency responsible for approving the plane’s operation in the US and it oversaw efforts over 18 months to redesign systems on the jet while it was grounded.

The stakes are enormous for Boeing, which has not logged a major jet order from China in years as trade tensions simmered. The resumption of Max deliveries would bolster the company’s plans to speed production of its principal money-maker as demand recovers from a global pandemic and a worldwide flying ban on the model.

About 175 nations have cleared the Max to resume service after Boeing paid over $2.5 billion in fines and redesigned a flight-control system linked to crashes in late 2018 and early 2019 that killed 346 people.

Chief executive Dave Calhoun has been upbeat about prospects for the planemaker and the Max in China, after US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman travelled to the country for diplomatic meetings.

The Max will be cleared to fly in China and the rest of the globe by year-end, Mr Calhoun said during the company’s earnings call last month. With the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing looming and the effects of the pandemic hopefully receding, China’s airlines are clamouring to get the Max back in service, he said.

Talks with the country's air regulator, Civil Aviation Administration of China, have been encouraging and constructive, Mr Calhoun said.

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Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson

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Rating: 2/5

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Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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FIGHT CARD

Welterweight Mostafa Radi (PAL) v Tohir Zhuraev (TJK)

Catchweight 75kg Leandro Martins (BRA) v Anas Siraj Mounir (MAR)

Flyweight Corinne Laframboise (CAN) v Manon Fiorot (FRA)

Featherweight Ahmed Al Darmaki (UAE) v Bogdan Kirilenko (UZB)

Lightweight Izzedine Al Derabani (JOR) v Atabek Abdimitalipov (KYG)

Featherweight Yousef Al Housani (UAE) v Mohamed Arsharq Ali (SLA)

Catchweight 69kg Jung Han-gook (KOR) v Elias Boudegzdame (ALG)

Catchweight 71kg Usman Nurmagomedov (RUS) v Jerry Kvarnstrom (FIN)

Featherweight title Lee Do-gyeom (KOR) v Alexandru Chitoran (ROU)

Lightweight title Bruno Machado (BRA) v Mike Santiago (USA)

German intelligence warnings
  • 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
  • 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
  • 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250 

Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution

Updated: August 05, 2021, 4:30 AM`