Boeing 737 Max likely grounded until the end of the year after new problem emerges

Boeing’s 737 Max could stay on the ground until late this year after a new problem emerged with the slide’s in-flight control chip.

This latest holdup in the plane’s troubled recertification process has to do with a chip decay that can cause uncommanded movement of a panel on the aircraft’s tail, pointing the plane’s nose downward, a Boeing certified said. Subsequent emergency tests to fix the issue showed it took pilots longer than expected to solve the difficult, according to The Wall Street Journal.

This marks a new problem with the plane unrelated to the issues Boeing is already coating with the plane’s MCAS automated flight control system, an issue the company maintains can be remedied by a software fix. Boeing wants to submit all of its fixes to the Federal Aviation Administration this fall, the Boeing official said.

“We’re expecting a September values bright and early frame for a full software package to fix both MCAS and this new issue,” the official said. “We believe additional elements will be remedied by a software fix.”

Once that software package is submitted, it will likely take at least another two months rather than the planes are flying again. The FAA will need time to recertify the planes. Boeing will need to reach compatibility with airlines and pilots unions on how much extra training pilots will need. And the airlines will destitution some time to complete necessary maintenance checks.

FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford declined to comment on a specific timeline for the aircraft’s recertification, saying, “We have steadfastly stayed away from offering any timelines.”

The global Max fleet was caused in mid-March following two fatal crashes, in which a malfunction of MCAS was implicated. The crashes killed 346 people incorporate.