Transport Canada will flight test the software changes to the Boeing 737 MAX in the coming week with a unique cross border arrangement that gets around the COVID 19 border closure. Boeing will fly the test airplane to Vancouver to pick up the TC inspectors and drop them off at the end of each day’s testing session. Canada is the first country to test the plane since the FAA evaluated it in late June.
Transport Canada is interested in many of the same things that the FAA required for recertification but it has at least one other requirement of its own. The main thrust of the software change was to change the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) to make it take data from at least two angle of attack indicators and to alert the pilots to the disagreement between the two sensors. Transport Canada also wants it easier for pilots to shut off the stick shaker when it’s obvious the anti-stall warning device has been triggered in error. For now, that means an entry in the POH showing pilots which breaker to pull but TC eventually wants a permanent fix for the stick shaker.