ER
A BOEING Co 737 MAX test plane took to the skies in China Wednesday (8/11), as the US manufacturer wants to end its nearly two-and-a-half-year ban on the model in the major travel market.
Flight tracking website Flightradar24 shows the 737 MAX 7 test plane taking off from Shanghai Pudong International Airport at 09:24 local time (01:24 GMT), with no destination listed. The test plane flew to the southeast.
The 737 MAX test plane left Seattle last week and arrived in Shanghai on Aug. 7 after stopping refueling in Honolulu and Guam. Reuters reported last week the plane would make its first test flight in China on August 11 if all went well.
Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Some 30 airlines and 175 countries have allowed the 737 MAX to return to service after a safety ban nearly two years after a crash five months apart killed 346 people, which plunged Boeing into a financial crisis since exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.
The Boeing 737 MAX is still grounded in China, where trade tensions between Washington and Beijing have cut sales for years, although Chief Executive Dave Calhoun said last month he still expects the 737 MAX to get approval before the end of the year.
China’s aviation regulator previously issued three requirements for the 737 MAX to return to service: a certified design change, adequate pilot training and definitive findings from the crash investigation.
Before the 737 MAX was grounded in March 2019, Boeing sold a quarter of the planes it makes annually to Chinese buyers. For years, simmering tensions between Washington and Beijing have caused uncertainty. [antaranews/photo special]
