FAA retained oversight of the Boeing MAX’s new maneuvering characteristics augmentation system (MCAS) early on in the aircraft's certification process, but later delegated it to Boeing once the agency was confident the company had the expertise to manage it, FAA acting administrator Dan Elwell told a Senate hearing March 27.

Key changes to the Boeing 737 MAX’s maneuvering characteristics augmentation system (MCAS) will incorporate more redundancy into the aircraft’s much-scrutinized flight-control law and give pilots ultimate elevator authority by limiting the degree of nose-down stabilizer command the automated system can trigger.

Pilots of a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 reported an emergency and returned to Orlando International Airport soon after takeoff March 26, the airline and FAA confirmed.

Despite a record-breaking year in terms of passenger numbers, Montenegro Airlines foresees another challenging year, president Nikola Vukićević said March 27.

Identification of in-service issues with the Boeing 737 MAX maneuvering characteristics augmentation system (MCAS) flight control law follows a common pattern for newly certified products, and does not signal errors made during the system’s design and risk analysis, FAA Acting Administrator Dan Elwell told a Senate panel March 27.