Boeing 737 MAX Reading Room
In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(2), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has created this webpage to make the following categories of documents related to the Boeing 737 MAX available to the public, subject to any applicable FOIA exemptions:
- Documents requested by members of the public under FOIA related to the Boeing 737 MAX that the FAA has determined are likely to become a subject of subsequent requests for substantially the same records, or that have been requested three or more times; and
- Records related to the Boeing 737 MAX that have yet to be requested pursuant to FOIA, but that the FAA has determined are nonetheless of sufficient public interest to warrant automatic disclosure to the public.
Most documents are in PDF format and will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view or print them.
Airworthiness Directive Summary
To address the unsafe conditions that led to the grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX, FAA issued an Airworthiness Directive that requires four design changes:
- Installing new flight control computer software.
- This change is intended to prevent erroneous MCAS activation, among other safeguards.
- Installing updated cockpit display system software to generate an AOA disagree alert.
- This will alert the pilots that the airplane's two AOA sensors are disagreeing by a certain amount indicating a potential AOA sensor failure.
- Incorporating new and revised operating procedures into the Airplane Flight Manual.
- This change is intended to ensure the flight crew has the means to recognize and respond to erroneous stabilizer movement and the effects of a potential AOA sensor failure.
- Changing the routing of horizontal stabilizer trim wires.
- This is intended to bring the airplane into full compliance with FAA's wire-separation safety standards.
- In addition to these four design changes, FAA also will require operators to conduct an AOA sensor system test and perform an operational readiness flight prior to returning each airplane to service.
Related Documents
- Rescission of the Grounding Order
- Final Rule/Airworthiness Directive
- Flight Standardization Board (FSB) Report
- Summary of FAA's Review of the Boeing 737 MAX
- Technical Advisory Board (TAB) Final Report
- Boeing 737 MAX Timeline
- FAA Continued Airworthiness Notification to the International Community (CANIC)
Grounding Order - Emergency Order of Prohibition
Testimony, Speeches and Press Releases
- March 27, 2019 — Statement of Daniel K. Elwell, Acting Administrator Before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation, Subcommittee on Aviation and Space on the State of Airline Safety: Federal Oversight of Commercial Aviation
- September 25, 2019 — Statement of Daniel K. Elwell, Deputy Administrator Before the Committee on Appropriations; Subcommittee on Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies; Oversight Hearing on FAA Aviation Certification
- June 17, 2020 — Statement of Stephen M. Dickson, Administrator Before the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, United States Senate on Examining the Federal Aviation Administration's Oversight of Aircraft Certification
- September 23, 2019 — Boeing 737 MAX Status Meeting with Aviation Regulators in Montreal: Stephen M. Dickson, Montreal Canada
- December 11, 2019 — The Boeing 737 Max: Examining FAA's Oversight of the Aircraft's Certification: Stephen M. Dickson Before the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, United States House of Representatives
- March 6, 2020 — FAA Proposes $19.68 Million Civil Penalty Against The Boeing Co.
- January 10, 2020 — FAA Proposes $5.4 Million Civil Penalty Against The Boeing Co.
FAA Updates on Boeing 737 MAX
Joint Authorities Technical Review (JATR)
Flight Standardization Board Reports
Boeing 737 MAX
- Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System
- 737-7/8/9 Elevator Control System Description and Safety Analysis
- 737-7/8/9 Stabilizer Trim System
- Stall Testing with EFS and / or STS off Part 2 (letter)
- Flight Test Plan-Stall Testing with EFS and/or STS off
- 737-8/737-9 Flight Control Computer Software Replacement (letter)
- Flight Crew Operations-Compliance Report-Crew Alerting (letter)
- Aerodynamics Stability and Control Analysis for Certification of the Low Mach Extension in the 737-7, 737-8, 77-8200, and 737-9MCAS Control Law (letter)
- 737 MAX Speed Trim System (STS) Integrated System Safety Analysis (ISSA) (letter)
- Statement of Compliance with Airworthiness Standards
- Flight Crew Operations-Compliance Report-Crew Alerting
- Plan for Software Aspects of Certification, FCC-730
- 737NG/737MAX Enhanced Digital Flight Control System Certification Summary
- 737NG/737MAX Enhanced Digital Flight Control System, System Description
- Aerodynamics, Stability and Control Analysis for Certification of the Low Mach Extension
- (MCAS)Correspondence Related to Boeing 737 MAX Certification Plans
Report Responses
FAA Safety Hotline Complaints
- Aviation Safety System Hotline Complaints
- Summary of Complaints (FYs 2017 through 2019) - Spreadsheet of all Safety System Hotline Complaints filed with FAA pertaining to "Boeing 737 MAX"
- S20180530018 (FOIA Request 2019-002366)
- S20180924038 (FOIA Request 2019-005361)
- S20190312001 (FOIA Request 2019-005361)
- S20190318006 (FOIA Request 2019-005361)
- S20190325008 (FOIA Request 2019-005361)
- S20190402009 (FOIA Request 2019-005361)
- S20190404014 (FOIA Request 2019-005361)
- Whistleblower Complaints