Boeing 737 Max
Boeing plans to commence 737 MAX certification test campaigns. Credit: Stephen McParlin.

Aerospace and defence company Boeing has reportedly planned to commence certification test campaign for 737 MAX aircraft.

People familiar with the matter were reported by Reuters as saying that pilots and test crew members from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Boeing will start the three-day test campaign today.

The Boeing 737 MAX aircraft has been grounded since March 2019 following two deadly crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia.

The campaign follows after the FAA reportedly confirmed the completion of a review of Boeing’s safety system assessment for the aircraft.

It will involve assessing the changes to the aircraft’s automated flight control system proposed by the company.

The system will be fitted on a 737 MAX 7 aircraft for performing flights with FAA test pilots at Boeing Field near Seattle, according to a source.

The aircraft will be put through ‘methodically scripted mid-air scenarios such as steep-banking turns’.

The 737 will also conduct more extreme manoeuvres and touch-and-go landings at the eastern Washington airport in Moses Lake.

Additionally, pilots will check the ‘reprogrammed stall-prevention software, known as MCAS’, and ‘aerodynamic stall conditions’.

Earlier this month, the US FAA head Stephen Dickson confirmed that Boeing 737 MAX aircraft will return only after ‘a comprehensive and rigorous review process’.

The commercial operation of the flight is not expected to happen until September, according to Reuters.