WASHINGTON/PARIS/ADDIS ABABA - Boeing Co’s 737 MAX 8 and 9 planes will be grounded for weeks if not longer until a software upgrade can be tested and installed, US lawmakers said on Thursday, as officials in France prepare to begin analysing the black boxes from a jet that crashed in Ethiopia.
US Representative Rick Larsen said after a briefing with US aviation officials the software upgrade would take a few weeks to complete, and installing it on all aircraft would take “at least through April.” He said additional training would also have to take place. After an apparent tussle over where the investigation should be held, the flight data and cockpit voice recorders were handed over to France’s Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety .
“We continue to build 737 MAX airplanes while assessing how the situation, including potential capacity constraints, will impact our production system,” Boeing spokesperson Chaz Bickers said.