Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger isn’t satisfied that the fixes for Boeing’s 737 MAX proposed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) are enough.
In an exclusive interview, the celebrated pilot said that even if the FAA ungrounds the jet next month as expected, additional modifications are needed as soon as possible to improve the plane’s crew alerting system and add a third check on the jet’s angle of attack data.
“I’m not going to say, ‘We’re done, good enough, move on,’” said Sullenberger.
“People are going to fly on it and I will probably be one of them,” he added. “The updated MAX will probably be as safe as the (previous model) 737 NG when they are done with it. But it’s not as good as it should be.”
After the FAA announced in August the proposed design changes for the MAX’s return to service, there were numerous comments from aviation experts calling for such updates.