BEIJING – China isn’t ready to join the United States in approving Boeing’s 737 Max to return to flying following a two-year grounding prompted by a pair of fatal crashes, a regulator said Monday.
China was the first country to ground the 737 Max in 2019 after crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia killed a total of 346 people.
American regulators approved the plane in November to resume commercial flights after Boeing updated software and pilots received additional training. “Major safety concerns” raised by Chinese regulators “have not been fully resolved,” said Dong Zhiyi, deputy administrator of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, at a news conference.