by Donald Wood
Last updated: 9:26 AM ET, Wed November 4, 2020
A pilots' union in the United States is asking federal aviation authorities to improve training proposals for flight crew members as they prepare to begin training to fly the grounded Boeing 737 MAX fleet again.
According to The Associated Press, the union representing Southwest Airlines pilots requested the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reduce the number of steps pilots must remember and carry out when experiencing a nose-down pitch emergency.
The nose-down pitch emergency is what brought down two 737 MAX planes and left 346 people dead. As a result of the crashes, Aviation regulators around the world grounded the entire fleet of Boeing aircraft.
Union representatives said "error rates increase exponentially" when pilots are forced to follow a long checklist during an emergency, with some finding it "difficult to recall the steps in order."
In addition, the pilots' union representing American Airlines said flight crews assigned to MAX planes should receive emergency training every two years instead of every three years as the FAA recommends.
The comments and recommendations were part of the feedback section of the recertification process, with the FAA possibly publishing a final rule within weeks. Boeing officials hope to receive approval to resume 737 MAX flights before the end of the year.
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