FAA denies next certification step for Boeing 777X

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a letter to Boeing that it would not certify the planned 777X airplane until mid-to-late 2023 due to a number of potential issues.

According to Reuters.com, a letter from the FAA to Boeing in May said the government agency had denied Boeing’s request to issue a Type Inspection Authorization (TIA) Readiness, saying the 777X “is not yet ready for TIA.”

FAA officials said a lack of data and a preliminary safety assessment caused the agency to decline Boeing’s plan for “a phased TIA of limited scope with a small number of certification flight test plans.”

“The FAA will not approve any aircraft unless it meets our safety and certification standards,” an agency spokesperson told Reuters.

While the letter cites several issues that need to be addressed, it references a software issue that caused an un-commanded pitch event that occurred on December 8, 2020, a major concern for an airplane manufacturer still recovering from two MAX crashes that killed 346 people within five months in 2018 and 2019.

With the need for updates and further testing, the agency said in its letter the certification date for the 777X “is realistically going to be mid to late 2023 (>2 years from now.” The Boeing 777X has been in development since 2013.

Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said earlier this month the company was still confident the new airplanes would be certified in the fourth quarter of 2023.