As Boeing finalizes its MCAS software updates in preparation for Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification flights, The KMBC news team in Kansas City managed to capture video of a MAX 7 test bed flight doing a touch and go landing at the Kansas City International Airport (MCI).
The Boeing 737 MAX 7 registered N7201S has been operating out of King County International Airport (BFI), a.k.a. Boeing Field, just a stone’s throw away from the Renton factory. As noted by Aerotime Hub, the aircraft operated a number of test flights out of BFI over the last few days to other cities including Lincoln Airport, Nevada, Sioux Falls Airport (FSD) Dakota, and Klamath Falls Airport (LMT), Oregon.
From a KMBC interview, a Boeing spokesperson said:
“The Boeing 737 MAX 7 started flying to various airports on February 7, 2020, to conduct a series of engineering flights with the updated software.
“These non-commercial test flights with a small test team on board will exercise short- and long-haul flights, seeking out weather and altitude conditions that will help satisfy specific test conditions for the updated software.”
They also noted that these were internal test flights and not part of the certification process. These internal test flights (among other tests) were responsible for the team recently discovering a fault with a stabilizer trim light which incorrectly illuminated in the cockpit. The issue has since been addressed with an update and will not hinder the certification process timeline.
Here are a few close-ups as well of the MAX 7 doing the touch and go at MCI.
[Featured Photo: GE Reports]
