re: 737max crashes in Ethiopia. Killing 157

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Boeing may apply for special permits to flight-test modifications and operate production flight-test and ferry flights of newly assembled 737 Max aircraft in U.S. airspace during the as-yet-indefinite worldwide commercial-flight ban affecting all 737 Max-family jets, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration confirmed Thursday.

“The order allows for ferry and repositioning flights under certain conditions,” one FAA spokesperson told AIN, while another subsequently confirmed that “Boeing may apply for a special flight permit to reposition aircraft for storage.”

Close reading of the emergency grounding order issued by the FAA on Wednesday shows the order specifically provides for the FAA potentially to allow such flights. “Special flight permits may be issued in accordance with 14 CPR. 21.197 and 21.199, including to allow non-passenger carrying flights, as needed, for purposes of flight to a base for storage, production flight testing, repairs, alterations, or maintenance,” the order’s second page reads. “Experimental airworthiness certificates may be issued in accordance with 14 CPR 21.191 to support certification of design changes.”

Lack of aircraft parking space at Boeing’s facility at Renton—where all 737s undergo final assembly—and at the immediately adjacent Renton Municipal Airport, from which all 737s make their first flights, could make the capability to operate such flights important to Boeing if the 737 Max grounding continues for more than two or three weeks. “Boeing has paused delivery of 737 Max airplanes due to the temporary grounding,” said Boeing in a statement released Thursday afternoon. “We continue to build 737 Max airplanes, while assessing how the situation, including potential capacity constraints, will impact our production system.”

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