Brazil’s Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil (National Civil Aviation Agency/ANAC) has become the second regulatory agency to reauthorize operation of the Boeing 737 MAX, withdrawing the emergency airworthiness directive that restricted use of the model on Wednesday. ANAC announced that it has chosen to adopt the airworthiness directive (PDF) issued by the FAA last week, which calls for changes including modifications to the aircraft’s maneuvering characteristics augmentation system (MCAS) and a revised pilot training program. Currently, the only Brazilian airline whose fleet includes MAX aircraft is GOL Linhas Aéreas.
“This thorough evaluation of the flight control system is an unprecedented milestone in the history of aviation,” said ANAC superintendent of airworthiness Roberto Honorato. “The revised modifications and procedures provided offer total confidence for the resumption of operations of the Boeing 737-8 MAX in Brazil.”
As previously reported by AVweb, the FAA cleared the MAX to return to service on Nov. 18. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) published a proposed airworthiness directive for the model on Tuesday and is expected to approve the MAX for service by January. The Boeing 737 MAX was grounded in March 2019 following the fatal accidents of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 on March 10, 2019, and Lion Air Flight 610 on Oct. 29, 2018.
